PE 




SEQUEL 



Z.2 



TO THE 



COMMON SCHOOL GRAMMAR; 



CONTAINING, IN ADDITION TO OTHER MATERIALS AND ILLUSTRATIONS, 



NOTES AND CRITICAL REMARKS 



ON 

THE PHILOSOPHY OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE5 



AND EXPLAINING SOME OP ITS 



MOST DIFFICULT IDIOMATIC PHRASES. 



DESIGNED FOR THE USE OF THE 



FIRST CLASS IN COMMON SCHOOLS. 



By JOHN GOLDSBURY, A. M., 

TEACHER OP THE HIGH SCHOOL, CAMBRIDGE, MASS. 



BOSTON: 
JAMES MUNROE AND COMPANY. 

NEW YORK: COLLINS, BROTHER & CO. PHILADELPHIA: THOMAS, 
COWPERTHWAIT & CO. BALTIMORE: CUSHING & BROTHiiRS. 

1842. 






/ 



— ^ 

f LIBRARY OF CONGRESS.! 



"PE^rerep- — - — | 

Iiap. ....' vopnght fljo \ 

\ €- /3?2-L 

f UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.! 



A 

SEQUEL 

TO THE 

COMMON SCHOOL GRAMMAR; 

CONTAINING, IN ADDITION TO OTHER MATERIALS AND ILLUSTRATIONS, 

NOTES AND CRITICAL REMARKS 

ON 

THE PHILOSOPHY OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE3 

AND EXPLAINING SOME OP ITS 

MOST DIFFICULT IDIOMATIC PHRASES. 

DESIGNED FOR THE USE OF THE 

FIRST CLASS IN COMMON SCHOOLS. 



By JOHN GOLDSBURY, A. M., 

TEACHER OF THE HIGH SCHOOL, CAMBRIDGE, MASS. 



^2^ 



BOSTON: 
JAMES MUNROE AND COMPANY. 

NEW YORK: COLLINS, BROTHER & CO. PHILADELPHIA: THOMAS, 
COWPERTHWAIT & CO. BALTIMORE: CUSHING & BROTHERS. 

1842. 



Xt4LS " ■ ..■ J ■ 



* ■ . ..,- ■ . *■* -, > 



-^ 






(*"* 



% 



Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1842, by 

JOHN GOLDSBURY, 

in the Clerk's office of the District Court of the District of Massachusetts. 






CAMBRIDGE; 

STEREOTYPED AND PRINTED BY 

METCALF, KEITH, AND NICHOLS, 

PRINTERS TO THE UNIVERSITY. 



TO 



THE HONORABLE HORACE MANN, 



SECRETARY OF THE EOARD OF EDUCATION, 



THIS LITTLE WORK IS RESPECTFULLY INSCRIBED, 



BY 



THE COMPILER. 



PREFACE. 



The present work is not a republication of the Common 
School Grammar ; nor is it designed to supply its place, or 
to supersede its use. It is merely, what its title express- 
es, a sequel to that work, containing such further materials 
and illustrations as have been thought necessary to give a 
clear and full view of the subject. Consequently, it will 
be necessary for the learner to acquaint himself with that 
work, or some other like it, previously to his entering, with 
advantage, upon the study of this. 

There are but two true methods of teaching English 
grammar : one is by rule and example; the other, teaching 
what is right by showing what is wrong. Both of these 
have been combined in this work. And the object of both 
is to teach scholars to think for themselves, and to rely on 
their own judgment. " Nothing is more absurd," says 
James Harris, the author of " Hermes," "than the com- 
mon notion of instruction, as if science were to be poured 
into the mind, like water into a cistern, that passively 
waits to receive all that comes. The growth of knowledge 
rather resembles the growth of fruit ; however external 
causes may in some degree cooperate, it is the internal 
vigor and virtue of the tree that must ripen the juices to 
their just maturity." To the same effect, John Home 
Tooke, in his " Diversions of Purley," says, cs Though 



VI PREFACE. 

grammar be usually among the first things taught, it is 
always the last thing understood. I suppose," says he, 
" a man of plain common sense may obtain it, if he will 
dig for it ; but I cannot think that what is commonly call- 
ed learning is the mine in which it will be found. Truth, 
in my opinion, has been improperly imagined at the bot- 
tom of a well ; it lies much nearer to the surface ; 
though buried indeed at present under mountains of learn- 
ed rubbish, in which there is nothing to admire, but the 
amazing strength of those vast giants of literature, who 
have been able thus to heap Pelion upon Ossa." 

After all the attempts which have been made to improve, 
simplify, and explain the system of English Grammar, it 
appears to me, that very little improvement has been made, 
either in the system itself, or in the method of teaching it. 
This want of success has, in my opinion, been chiefly 
owing to two causes. 

1. Most authors who have written upon the subject, 
have treated it too much in the abstract, without making 
any practical application of their own principles. They 
have contented themselves with prescribing arbitrary rules, 
not easily understood, and unaccompanied with any intel- 
ligible explanation calculated to throw light upon the sub- 
ject. Instead of reasons and illustrations addressed to the 
understanding, unintelligible rules have too frequently 
been imposed upon the memory, which have rendered the 
study of Grammar, dry, uninteresting, and profitless. But 
the want of success, in this instance, has not been owing 
so much to any defect in the system itself, as in the meth- 
od of explaining it. 

2. Others, dissatisfied, both with the system itself, and 



PREFACE. Vll 

with the method of explaining it, have invented new sys- 
tems, and adopted new theories of explanation, some more, 
and some less, visionary and impracticable, but most of 
them unphilosophical, and contrary to the plainest princi- 
ples of our language. One has invented an entirely new 
system, and, not finding words in the language adequate to 
explain his meaning, has been obliged to form an entirely 
new vocabulary. " As there are no words already in use," 
says he, " expressive of the principles on which this theo- 
ry of English Syntax is founded, the nomenclature used in 
it, has been formed for this system." Another, impressed 
with the idea of the feeble nature of words to convey his 
thoughts upon the subject, has attempted to do it by the 
use of pictures, and has published to the world a pictural 
grammar. But all such attempts will prove abortive. The 
English language can be explained only by itself, by study- 
ing its etymology, and attending to its own idiomatic forms 
of expression ; and it is fully adequate to this purpose. 

The work here presented to the public, is but the mere 
filling up and carrying out the plan of the former. The 
design of that work is to teach, in the most concise and 
systematic method, the fundamental principles of the lan- 
guage ; to teach but one thing at a time, and to do it sys- 
tematically and thoroughly, before proceeding to another. 
Examples and illustrations are given under every head, 
and also a systematic order of parsing, which, if constant- 
ly pursued by scholars, will compel them to apply, as they 
go along, every definition and every rule belonging to each 
word which they parse, and to understand the meaning 
also. By pursuing this method, they will learn more in 
three months, than they can in nine by any other. With 



Vlll PREFACE. 

beginners, system is every thing. They should be kept to 
it closely, and drilled thoroughly, till they become perfect- 
ly familiar with it, and are able to understand and apply all 
its principles in their proper order, without the assistance of 
the teacher. They will then be prepared to understand and 
apply the principles and illustrations of this work. Still, it 
should be borne in mind, that it is not the design of this 
work to repeat what has been sufficiently explained in the 
former. Nothing but the bare frame-work, together with 
such other materials and illustrations as have been thought 
necessary to complete the design of that, has been here in- 
troduced. Scholars are supposed to be already acquainted 
with that work, or some other like it ; and it is here pro- 
posed to widen the sphere of their observation, and to give 
them a clearer and fuller view of the subject. 

Cambridge, July 4, 1842. 



SEQUEL 



TO THE 



COMMON SCHOOL GRAMMAR. 



LANGUAGE. 



1. Language, in its widest sense, embraces all those 
signs by which men and brutes make known their thoughts, 
feelings, and desires. 

2. It may be divided into four kinds ; natural, artifi- 
cial, spoken, and written. 

3. Natural language, common alike to men and brutes, 
consists of those natural signs, which different animals 
employ in communicating their feelings one to another. 
Thus, the bird chirps ; the lamb bleats ; the horse neighs ; 
the dog growls, whines, and barks. 

4. Artificial language consists of words and other ar- 
bitrary signs, used by common consent, as expressions of 
our ideas, and by means of which mankind are enabled 
to communicate their thoughts one to another. 

5. Spoken language, or speech, is made up of artificial 
sounds uttered by the human voice. 

6. Written language consists of letters, syllables, and 
words, either written or printed, and so combined as to 
form discourse. 



10 LANGUAGE. 



GRAMMAR. 



7. Grammar is an explanation of the principles of 
language. 

8. It may be divided into four kinds ; universal and 
particular, philosophical and practical. 

9. Universal Grammar explains the principles, which 
are common to all languages. 

10. Particular Grammar explains the principles, which 
apply to a particular language. 

11. Philosophical Grammar investigates the principles 
and usages of language, explains their philosophy and 
reasonableness, and lays down rules for practical grammar. 

12. Practical Grammar adopts the principles, defini- 
tions, and rules of philosophical grammar, and reduces 
them to practice. 

Note. A principle, in grammar, is a peculiar construction of the 
language. A definition is a principle of the language, expressed 
in a definite form. And a rule prescribes the peculiar construction 
or circumstantial relation of words, which custom has established 
for our observance. 



ENGLISH GRAMMAR. 

13. English Grammar is an explanation of the prin- 
ciples of the English language. 

14. It may be divided into six parts ; Orthography, 
Orthoepy, Etymology, Syntax, Prosody, and Rhetoric. 



ORTHOGRAPHY. 11 



ORTHOGRAPHY, 



15. Orthography is derived from the Greek word 
oQ&oyQacplay which is compounded of og&og, correct, and 
/^a'qpoi, to write ; and, in the original, it means the art of 
writing correctly ; but, in our language, is used to signify 
word-making, or spelling, 

16. In English there are twenty-six letters, which are 
intended to represent the different sounds of the human 
voice, and by the use of which all the words in the lan- 
guage are formed. 

17. In printing, there are three different kinds of type 
or letters, the Roman, Italic, and <®ttr ISttfllfef)* 

18. There are more than ticenty different varieties in 
the size of the letters. The following are some of the 
principal, arranged according to their sizes, commencing 
with the smallest : 

1. Diamond. 8. Small Pica. 14. Double Pica. 

2. Pearl. 9. Pica. 15. Two-lines Pica. 

3. Nonpareil. 10. English. 16. Two-lines English. 

4. Minion. 11. Primer. 17. Two-lines Great Primer. 

5. Brevier. 12. Great Primer. 18. Two-lines Double Pica. 

6. Bourgeois. 13. Paragon. 19. French Canon. 

7. Long Primer. 

19. Marks and signs used by proof-readers in correct- 
ing the press, and an explanation of them, taken from 
u Typographia, or the Printer's Instructor." 

Note. The figures on the following page, 1, 2, 3, 4, &c. are not 
used by proof-readers. They are here introduced for the purpose 
of referring to the explanations given of the marks and signs in 
connexion with which they stand. 



12 ORTHOGRAPHY. 

l a/ Though a variety of opinions exist as to 2 

the individual by wqom the art of printing was y 

first discovered ; yet all authorities concur in 

admitting Peter Schoeffer to be the person 3< g^. 

who invented cast metal types, having learned 

4 %. the art of -of cutting the letters from the Gut- 

5 tembergs [ he is also supposed to have been 

6 # the first whoengraved on copper plates. The 7 /-//- — / 

following testimony is preseved in the family, 8 z j 

9 ^ by Jo. Fred. Faustus of Ascheffenburg : «/* 

^ % u Peter Schoeffer of Gernsheim, perceiving 3 ^<g^ 

J1 \V his master Fausts design, and being himself 

12 ^. (ciesirous ^ ardently) to improve the art, found 

out (by the good providence of God) the 

method of cutting (incidrndi) the characters 13 <^ 

in a matrix, that the letters might easily be 

6 9 1 singly cast \ instead of bieng cut. He pri- * V/ 

l4 "]~ vately cut matrices\ for the whole alphabet : 

Faust was so pleased with the contrivance 
15 A 
' t ^at he promised ^eter to give him his only 17 ^f 

i6 1 ughter Christina in marriage, a promise 3 JW 

w h ich he S00n after P erformed ^ "w Jzeai 

i' ^But there were many difficulties at first 
with these letters , as there had been before *(y&om. 
with wooden ones , the metal being too soft *Jia/. 
to support the force of the im pression : but 9> ^ 
this defect was soon remedied, by mixing 
a substance with the meta] which sufficiently *i 
'©hardened it[" 

and wn,en ne tnowed nit mattez tne /etUi* catt worn 
tnete matucet, 



TYPOGRAPHICAL MARKS EXEMPLIFIED. 13 

Though a variety of opinions exist as to 
the individual by whom the art of printing was 
first discovered ; yet all authorities concur in 
admitting PETER SCHOEFFER to be the 
person who invented cast metal types, having 
learned the art of cutting the letters from the 
Guttembergs : he is also supposed to have been 
the first who engraved on copper-plates. The 
following testimony is preserved in the family, 
by Jo. Fred. Faustus of Ascheffenburg : 

" Peter Schoeffer of Gernsheim, per- 
ceiving his master Faust's design, and being 
himself ardently desirous to improve the art, 
found out (by the good providence of God) 
the method of cutting (incidendi) the charac- 
ters in a matrix, that the letters might easily 
be singly cast, instead of being cut. He pri- 
vately cut matrices for the whole alphabet : 
and when he showed his master the letters cast 
from these matrices, Faust was so pleased 
with the contrivance that he promised Peter 
to give him his only daughter Christina in 
marriage, a promise which he soon after per- 
formed. But there were as many difficulties 
at first with these letters, as there had been 
before with wooden ones, the metal being too 
soft to support the force of the impression : 
but this defect was soon remedied, by mixing 
the metal with a substance which sufficiently 
hardened it." 



14 ORTHOGRAPHY. 



EXPLANATION OF THE CORRECTIONS. 

A wrong letter in a word is noticed by drawing a short 
perpendicular line through it, and making another short 
line in the margin, behind which the right letter is placed. 
(See No. 1.) In this manner whole words are corrected, 
by drawing a line across the wrong word, and making the 
right one in the margin, opposite the faulty line. 

A turned letter is noticed by making a dash under it, 
and the mark No. 2, in the margin. If a corrector is not 
able to distinguish such turned letters as have a resem- 
blance to others, it is much better to mark such letters in 
the margin. 

If letters or words are to be altered from one character 
to another, a parallel line or lines should be made under- 
neath the word or letter, namely, for capitals, three lines ; 
small capitals, two lines ; and Italic, one line ; and write 
in the margin, opposite the line where the alteration oc- 
curs, Caps, Small Caps, or Ital. (See No. 3.) 

When letters or words are set double, or are required 
to be taken out, a line is drawn through the superfluous 
word or letter, and the mark No. 4, placed opposite in 
the margin. 

Where the punctuation requires to be altered, the 
colon, and period, if marked in the margin, should be en- 
circled. (See No. 5.) 

Where a space is wanting between two words or letters 
which are to be separated, a parallel line must be drawn 
where the separation ought to be, and the sign, No. 6, 
placed opposite in the margin. 

No. 7, describes the manner in which the hyphen and 
ellipsis line are marked. Should a letter have been 
omitted, a caret is put at the place, and the letter marked 
as No. 8. 



EXPLANATIONS. 15 

Where words or letters that should join are separated, 
or when a line is too wide spaced, the mark, No. 9, must 
be placed under the separation, and the junction signified 
by that in the margin. 

Where a new paragraph is required, the corresponding 
character should be made, and the same mark, No. 10, 
placed in the margin. 

No. 11, shows the way in which the apostrophe, in- 
verted commas, the star, and other references and supe- 
rior letters and figures are marked. 

Where two words are transposed, the word placed 
wrong should be encircled, and the mark, No. 12, placed 
in the margin ; but where several words require to be 
transposed, their right order is signified by a figure placed 
over each word, and the mark, No. 12, in the margin. 

Where words have been struck out, that have after- 
wards been approved of, dots should be marked under 
such words, and in the margin write Stet. (See No. 13.) 

Where a space sticks up between two words, a per- 
pendicular between two horizontal strokes is put in the 
margin. (No. 14.) 

Where several lines or words are added, they should 
be written at the bottom of the page, and a line drawn 
from the place where the insertion begins, to those lines 
or words. (See No. 15.) But if more is added than 
can be contained at the foot of the page, write in the 
margin, Out, see copy, and enclose the omission between 
brackets, and insert the word Out, in the margin of the 
copy. 

Where letters or lines stand crooked, they are noticed 
by drawing lines before and after them. (See No. 16.) 

Where a smaller or larger letter, of a different fount, 
is improperly introduced into the page, it is noticed by 
the mark, No. 17. 

If a paragraph is improperly made, a line should be 



16 ORTHOGRAPHY. 

drawn from the broken-off matter to the next paragraph, 
and write in the margin, JW break. (See No. 18.) 

Where a word or words have been left out, or are to 
be added, a caret must be made in the place where they 
are intended to come in, and the word or words written 
in the margin. (See No. 19.) 

20. Marks and signs used in correcting ivritten compo- 
sition, and an explanation of them, copied chiefly from 
Professor Channing, of Harvard University. 

DIRECTIONS TO THE SCHOLAR. 

1. Write out your subject at full length at the begin- 
ning. 

2. Themes to be written on letter paper, and folded 
once only from side to side. 

3. The writer's name to be written on the outside at 
the top. 

4. Leave a margin of an inch, on the left side of each 
page, for criticisms, and mark it off by a pencil line. 

5. The Teacher's corrections to be made with a pen- 
cil, and the scholar's with ink, leaving the pencil marks 
distinct. 



A short perpendicular line in the margin 
shows, that something is wrong in the 
line against which it stands, which mark 
is also drawn across the error. 

C. Shows a want of connexion with the sub- 

ject, or with the other passages in the 
theme. 

D. Implies doubt as to the correctness of the 

statement, or the completeness of the 
sentence. 



MARKS AND SIGNS. 17 

22. Shows that a word or phrase is not English. 

G. Shows some violation of Grammar. 

0. Denotes obscurity. 

P. Shows a proper place for a paragraph. 

S. Shows that a change is required in the 

form of a sentence. 

T. Denotes that the passage is wanting in taste. 

W. Denotes that the passage is wanting in sim- 

plicity or compactness. 

a. Placed under two or more words or 

phrases, indicates some impropriety in 
the connexion. 

a, 6, c, &c. These are placed under a word used too 
frequently, or under several words of 
similar sound standing near each other. 

1, 2, 3, &c. These are placed under words or clauses, 

or against sentences, to show that they 
require a different arrangement corre- 
sponding to their numbers. 
A passage, thus enclosed, is to be erased. 

This is a somewhat indefinite mark, but is 

commonly drawn under words to indi- 
cate, that they are used vaguely, or in- 
appropriately. 

p. Shows that there is some defect in punctu- 

ation in the line against which it is placed. 

sp. Shows that there is bad spelling in the line. 

X. At the beginning of a subject or theme, 

denotes that it is so badly written, that 
it must be transcribed, and handed in 
again. 

Note. Either of the above marks placed at the close of a com- 
position, indicates a prevailing fault in it, of the kind represented 
by the mark. 

2* 



18 ORTHOEPY. 



ORTHOEPY. 

21. Orthoepy is derived from the Greek word, 
oQ&oenuu, which is compounded of 0Q&6g, correct, and 
snog, speech or diction ; and it signifies the art of speak- 
ing or pronouncing correctly. 

Note. As the principles of Orthography and Orthoepy are fully 
explained in Spelling-books and Dictionaries, and usually tatfght 
long before scholars become acquainted with the study of English 
grammar, as such, they are here omitted. 



ETYMOLOGY. 

22. Etymology is derived from the Greek word, 
frvfioloyla, which is compounded of hvpov, root or origin, 
and tiyw, to tell or relate ; and it signifies the derivation 
of a word from its origin or root, and an explanation of 
its meaning. 

WORDS. 

23. Words are either primitive or derivative, simple 
or compound. 

24. A primitive word is not derived from any other 
word, but is the first form in which it occurs ; as, hard, 
soft, cold. 

25. A derivative word is derived from another word, 
which is its primitive ; as, hardness, softness, coldness. 

26. A simple word may be either primitive or deriva- 
tive ; but it is particularly opposed to a compound ; as, 
do, primitive ; did, derivative ; both of which are simple 
words. 

27. A compound word is formed by joining two or 
more simple words together by a hyphen ; as, man-slayer, 
rain-water, looking-glass. 



WORDS. 19 

28. Some compounds are distinct, and are always 
written with the hyphen uniting the different parts of the 
word ; as, sing-song, son-in-law. 

29. Other compounds omit the hyphen, and readily 
coalesce, and become permanent compounds ; as, pen- 
knife, bookbinder. 

30. Many words are primitives in English, which are 
compounds in other languages ; as, prefix, conjoin, su- 
perscribe. # 

31. The whole number of words in the English lan- 
guage, exclusive of the various inflections of verbs and 
participles, has been estimated at about forty thousand ; 
of which more than one half have been derived from the 
Anglo-Saxon ; less than one fourth from the Latin ; and 
the rest from the Greek, French, German, Spanish, and 
other languages. 

Note. The Anglo-Saxon, which was a branch of the ancient 
Teutonic, is generally regarded as the parent stock of the English 
language. It was the language of the ancient Angles and Saxons, 
two powerful and warlike tribes from the northwest part of Germa- 
ny, who invaded and conquered Britain. Of its great antiquity, we 
have the most unequivocal testimony from one of the first of ety- 
mologists and scholars of his age, John HorneTooke, who has done 
more to explain the meaning of the English language than any 
other writer. " The Latin," says he, "is a mere modern lan- 
guage, compared with the Anglo- Saxon. The Roman beginning 
(even with their fable) is not, comparatively, at a great distance. 
The beginning of the Roman language we know ; and can trace 
its formation step by step. But the northern origin is totally out 
of sight ; is entirely and completely lost in its deep antiquity." 

32. All the words in the language, whatever their 

number or origin, are divided into nine classes, called the 

Parts of Speech, namely, the article, noun, adjective, 

pronoun, verb, adverb, preposition, conjunction, and in- 

terjection. 

* See Appendix, No. I. 



20 ETYMOLOGY. 



ARTICLE. 



33. The Articles, a or an, and the, are of Saxon 
origin, in which language they were used as verbs, and 
they still retain something of the same meaning which 
they had originally. 

34. In the Anglo-Saxon, a, an, arte or one, is the 
perfect participle of •" anan '" or "ananad," to add, to 
join. It denotes that the thing to which it is prefixed, 
is added, united, aned, an'd, oned, (woned,) or made 
one. 

35. In the Anglo-Saxon, also, the is the imperative, 
and that, the perfect participle, of the verb " thean," 
to get, take, assume. The and that had originally the 
same meaning, and were used, indifferently, either be- 
fore a singular or plural noun. But that has so far de- 
parted from its original application, as to be used before 
singular nouns only, and to justify its being differently 
classed. 

36. The article, a, seems to be used somewhat in 
the sense, either of a preposition, or of the distributive 
pronoun each, in the following instances ; as, they are 
paid at the rate of twenty dollars a man ; they received 
so much a day, a week, a month, a year, &c. 

37. The reason why the article, a, (when it comes be- 
fore the adjectives, few, great many, dozen, hundred, 
&c.) agrees with nouns in the plural number, is, we are 
accustomed to consider the nouns, though plural, as one 
whole ; as, a hundred years. 

38. And the reason why the adjective, many, (when 
it comes before a or an,) agrees with nouns in the sin- 
gular number, is, we are accustomed to consider the 
nouns, though singular in form, as plural in meaning ; 
as, many a flower, &c. 



NOUN. 21 

39. The articles, a and the, are not generally prefixed 
to proper nouns, unless for the purpose of rendering 
them common, except when a common noun is under- 
stood ; as, the Connecticut (river), or the (river) Con- 
necticut. 

NOUN. 

40. The word noun is derived from the Latin u no- 
men," a name. 

41. Nouns are usually divided into common and prop- 
er ; but they may also be divided into concrete and ab- 
stract. 

42. Concrete nouns are the names of visible and roa- 
terial objects ; as, man, horse, tree. 

43. Abstract nouns are the names of invisible and 
immaterial things or ideas ; as, life, virtue, fortune. 

44. To nouns belong person, number, gender, and 
case. 

PERSON. 

45. There are three persons, first, second, and third. 

46. The first person is the speaker ; the second, the 
person addressed ; and the third, the person or thing 
spoken of or about. 

NUMBER. 

47. Number is the distinction of objects, as one or 
more. 

48. There are two numbers, singular and plural. 

49. The singular number means but one, and the plu- 
ral, more than one. 

50. The plural number of nouns is generally formed 
by adding s to the singular. 



22 ETYMOLOGY. 

51. The following nouns, canto, grotto, junto, me- 
mento, octavo, peccadillo, portico, quarto, solo, tyro, 
zero, folio, bamboo, &c, form their plurals regularly, 
according to the above rule, by adding s only to the sin- 
gular, and not according to the exception contained in 
No. 35 of C. S. Grammar. 

52. The following nouns, dwarf, mischief, chief, grief, 
fife, cliff, muff, ruff, relief, reproof, flagstaff, &c, form 
their plurals regularly, according to the above rule, by 
adding s only to the singular, and not according to the 
exception contained in No. 36 of C. S. Grammar. 

53. The following nouns, delay, day, toy, attorney, 
money, &c, which have a vowel in the same syllable 
with the termination y, form their plurals regularly, ac- 
cording to the above rule, by adding s only to the sin- 
gular, and not according to the exception contained in 
No. 37 of C. S. Grammar. 

54. Some nouns, which appear to be plural, are in 
fact singular; as, the measles is a bad disorder; the 
wages of sin is death. 

55. Whatever nature or art has made double, will not 
admit of a singular number ; as, scissors, tongs, shears, 
pincers, &c. 

Note. En was the regular form of the Saxon plural, some 
traces of which still remain in our language ; as, ox, oxen; child, 
children; brother, brothers or brethren. The word, brothers > is 
used to express the relation we have to each other, as born of the 
same parents ; but brethren implies the relation we have to the 
whole human family. Thus, two men may be brothers, but all 
mankind are brethren. 

GENDER. 

56. Though there are but two sexes, yet nouns are 
said to have four distinctions with regard to gender, mas- 
culine, feminine, common, and neuter. 



NOUN. 23 

57. When natural objects are personified, those which 
possess the power of u imparting or communicating, or 
which are by nature active, strong, and efficacious," or 
which in any respect resemble males more than females, 
are put in the masculine gender ; as, the sun, ocean, 
time, death, fear, sleep, anger, revenge, winter, thunder, 
wind, war, vice, devil, &c. 

58. On the contrary, those objects which are "receiv- 
ers or containers, or which produce and bring forth, or 
which are peculiarly beautiful, amiable, and attractive," 
are put in the feminine gender ; as, the moon, earth, 
city, ship, country, nature, art, fame, fortune, virtue, 
wisdom, hope, pleasure, peace, cheerfulness, spring, &c. 

Note. A peculiar awkwardness sometimes occurs, from person- 
ifying nouns which have received masculine or feminine names ; 
as, the steamboat, Benjamin Franklin, has burst her boiler. 

CASE. 

59. Nouns are said to have four cases, according to 
the position which they occupy in a sentence, or accord- 
ing to their different relations to other words. Thus, 
the nominative is the agent or subject ; the possessive is 
the possessor ; the objective is the object ; and the voca- 
tive stands independent. 

60. When several nouns follow each other in the pos- 
sessive case, the last only has the sign of the possessive ; 
as, these are John, James, and SamueVs books.* See 
Notes under Rule 5. 



ADDRESSES TO FEMALES. 



61. A married lady is usually addressed by the title 
of Mrs. ; as, Mrs. Jane Webster. 

* See Appendix, No. 3. 



24 ETYMOLOGY. 

62. If a number of married ladies of the same name 
reside in the same place, in order the more readily to 
designate the one intended, it is customary to substitute, 
for her own, the Christian name of her husband ; as, 
Mrs. George Webster. 

63. A lady who has never been married, is usually 
addressed by the title of Miss ; as, Miss Caroline Web- 
ster. 

64. To distinguish unmarried from married ladies of 
the same name, it is proper to vary the name, and not 
the title ; as, the Miss Websters ; the Mrs. Websters. 

65. If we wish to distinguish unmarried ladies of one 
name from those of a different name, it is proper to vary 
the title, and not the name ; as, the Misses Pomeroy ; the 
Misses Armstrong. 

66. If, in the same connexion, we wish to mention 
several unmarried ladies of different names, the title 
should be expressed before each; as, Miss Mansfield, 
Miss James, Miss Brooks. 

Note. In addressing males, it will be well to remember, that 
double titles are not only out of fashion, but in bad taste; as, Gen. 
George Washington, Esq., or Mr. George Washington, Esq. ; Rev. 
Dr. William E. Channing, or Rev. William E. Channing, D. D. 
If a person has a dozen titles, only one of them should be used, 
and that should be the most honorable, suitable, and appropriate. 
The only exceptions to this remark, are the three following: 
1. When the Christian name of an individual is either omitted or 
forgotten ; as, Rev. Mr. Lowell, or Rev. Dr. Lowell ; 2. When a 
general title precedes, and a particular title of office follows, the 
name ; as, the Hon. Daniel Webster, Secretary of State ; and 3. 
When a general title and a particular title both follow the name ; 
as, Ambrose Wellington, A. JB., Teacher of the Grammar School. 



ADJECTIVE. 25 

ADJECTIVE. 

67. Adjective comes from the Latin "ad" and 
" jicio," to add, to join; and it signifies that something 
15 added to the noun. 

68. Adjectives are said to have three variations, or 
degrees of comparison, the positive, comparative, and 
superlative, to express the different degrees of quality of 
nouns. See C. S. Grammar, page 17. 

69. Adjectives derived from proper names, and com- 
mon nouns used adjectively, are seldom varied ; as, 
American, English, and French goods ; New England 
scenery ; tide waters, iron bar, meadow ground, day 
school, morning sun. 

70. When an adjective is compounded with another 
part of speech, the adjective part of the word may be 
varied, if it admit of variation, when it stands alone ; 
as, nard-hearted, narder-hearted, hardest-hearted ; short- 
sighted, shorter -sighted, shortest-sighted. 

71. When two other parts of speech are united in 
forming a compound adjective, no part of the word is 
usually varied ; as, flower-decked, blood-stained, heaven- 
directed, war- denouncing. 

72. Participles become adjectives by prefixing the 
negative particle un, especially if their verbs do not have 
the same particle ; as, unknown, unseen, unfelt, un- 
heard, unfed, unbought, ungoverned, &c. 

DEFECTIVE ADJECTIVES. 

73. The following adjectives are used only in the 
comparative degree; namely, major, minor, senior, jun- 
ior, interior, exterior, superior, inferior, anterior, pos- 
terior, prior, ulterior, &c.~ 

74. The following adjectives are used only in the su- 

3 



26 ETYMOLOGY. 

perlative degree ; namely, extreme, supreme, ultimate, 
infinite, immense, &c. 

Note. The foregoing are of Latin origin. 

75. Many words become adjectives of the superlative 
degree, by adding to them the termination, most ; as, 
aftermost, downmost, endmost, eastmost, hontmost, fur- 
thermost, hithermosf, lowermost, inmost, outmost, rear- 
most, uppermost, undermost, topmost, southernmost, &c. 

76. Many other words become adjectives of the su- 
perlative degree, by adding to them the termination, less ; 
as, ceaseZm, deathZm, endZess, priceZess, staunchZess, 
breathZess, motionZess, &c. 

Note. This termination, less, in the Saxon language, was a 
verb in the imperative mode; and its meaning was "dismiss." 
And it is this termination, placed at the end of nouns, and coa- 
lescing with them, which has enriched our language, and given it 
such adjectives as hope/ess, rest/ess, senseless, lifeless, lawless, re- 
gardless, remorseZess, &c, the meaning of which is "dismiss" 
hope, rest, sense, life, law, regard, remorse, &c* 



PRONOUN. 

77. Pronoun comes from the Latin "pro," for, and 
"nomen," a name ; so that pronoun means for a name, 
or instead of a name. 

78. Pronouns are divided into four classes, the per- 
sonal, relative, interrogative, and adjective. 

79. It is not always used as a personal pronoun, but 
frequently, as a relative ; and it relates to what is implied 
in some other part of speech or part of a sentence, and 
sometimes to a whole sentence ; as, it is delightful to see 
brothers and sisters living in harmony ; it had been good 

* See Appendix, No. II. 



PRONOUN. 27 

for that man, if he had not been born ; it was James that 
told me ; it was your own fault ; it rains, &c. 

Note. In such instances, it is called an inceptive pronoun, be- 
cause it begins the sentence, and relates to something subsequent. 

80. The following may serve to show, how interroga- 
tive and relative pronouns mutually pass into each other ; 
as, "who first seduced him? The infernal spirit." fC It 
was the infernal spirit, icho first seduced him." In the 
first instance, who is an interrogative, and relates to its 
subsequent, spirit. In the second instance, who is a 
relative, and relates to the antecedent, spirit. 

81. Many adjective pronouns are frequently used in- 
stead of nouns ; and it is easy to tell, when they are so 
used ; for they always stand by themselves, assuming the 
power of a noun, and supplying its place. But when 
they are used adjectively, they do not stand by them- 
selves, but are always associated with a noun, either ex- 
pressed or understood. 

82. This and these refer to the nearest persons or 
things ; that and those to the most distant; as, these books 
are better than those. This and these, also, indicate the 
latter, or last mentioned ; that and those the former, or 
first mentioned ; as, " both wealth and poverty are temp- 
tations ; that tends to excite pride, this, discontent." 

" Some place the bliss in action, some in ease ; 
Those call it pleasure, and contentment these." 

83. What seems to be used sometimes in the sense 
of a demonstrative adjective pronoun ; as, 

" What time the daisy decks the green, 
Thy certain voice to hear ; 
Hast thou a star to guide thy path, 
Or mark the rolling year 1 " 

" What time the pea puts on the bloom, 
Thou rliest thy vocal vale, 



28 ETYMOLOGY. 

An annual guest in other lands, 
Another spring to hail." 



" both together heard 



What time the gray fly winds her sultry horn," &c. 



VERB. 

84. Verb eomes from the Latin "verbum," a word. 
It is so called, because it is the word which asserts or 
affirms something of persons or things. 

85. There are three kinds of verbs, active, passive, 
and neuter, 

86. Sometimes a verb is either active or neuter, ac- 
cording to the different senses in which it is used ; as, 
u it becomes us." Here becomes is an active verb, used 
in the sense of befits, and governs us. But in the sen- 
tence, "he will become virtuous and good," become is 
a neuter verb, and is used in the sense of be, 

87. A neuter verb frequently becomes active, when it 
takes a noun after it of the same signification with its 
own ; as, he slept a sleep ; he dreamed a dream ; he lived 
a life ; he died a death, 

88. Passive verbs sometimes have an objective case 
after them ; as, / was offered a reward. 

Note. The passive verb should assume for its nominative case, 
or governing word, the object of the active verb from which it is 
derived ; and hence the expression should stand thus, " a reward 
was offered (to) me." 

89. To verbs belong person, number, mode, and tense. 

Note. Strictly speaking, verbs have no person or number ; for 
these, they depend upon their nominatives with which they agree. 

90. Verbs have five modes, or forms of expression, 
the indicative, imperative, potential, subjunctive, and in- 
finitive, — and six tenses, or distinctions with regard to 



VERB. 29 

time, the present, imperfect, perfect, pluperfect, and first 
and second future. 

91. In universal time past, there are many particular 
times past, and in universal time future, many particular 
times future, some more, some less remote, and corre- 
sponding to each other under different relations. 

92. To show that the precise time of the verb is very 
much determined by the nature and drift of the sentence, 
take the following example : " If he come to-morrow, I 
may speak to him." Here may speak is in the subjunc- 
tive mode, first future time. Again ; <c If he would or 
should come to-morrow, I might, could, would, or should 
speak to him." Observe, also, that the auxiliaries, would 
and should, in the imperfect tenses, are used to express 
the present and future as well as the past ; as, it is my 
desire, that he would or should come now, or to-morrow ; 
as well as, it was my desire, that he icould or should 
come yesterday. 

Further illustration : 
I may, can, or must, ) , ( now, or 

I might, could, should, or would, ; ( hereafter. 

93. The present tense is frequently used to express 
future time, when it is preceded by ere, before, after, till, 
until, &c. ; as, u ere fresh morning streak the east;" 
before you see your friend ; after they come, we will go, 
&c. 

94. Similar remarks may be applied to some of the 
modes. Were and had, for example, are used in the 
potential mode in the following instances ; as, obedience 
were rebellion here ; it were no longer seasonable, and 
would be superfluous, to recapitulate the remarkable in- 
cidents of your life ; seek not temptation, which to avoid 
were better ; a cymbal's sound icere better than my 

3* 



30 ETYMOLOGY. 

voice ; I had not known sin, but by the law ; else had 
his hand this panting bosom gored. 

95. The compound active verb, by some called the 
definite form of the verb, sometimes has a passive sig- 
nification ; as, the house is burning. When this is the 
case, some writers adopt a different form of expression, 
and instead of saying, the house is burning, say, the house 
is being burned. u Such a phraseology," says Mr. San- 
born, u is a solecism too palpable to receive any favor ; 
it is at war with the practice of the most distinguished 
writers in the English language. When an individual 
says, c a house is being burned,' he declares that a 
house is existing, burned, which is impossible ; for being 
means existing, and burned, consumed by fire; instead 
of inaccurate precision, doubt, and ambiguity, we have a 
form of expression perfectly intelligible, beautiful, defi- 
nite, and appropriate." 

96. Verbs are also divided into regular, irregular, 
and defective. 

Note, En is the regular Saxon termination of the imperfect 
tense and perfect participle of verbs. This termination is not so 
much used as formerly, and besides, it is now considered irregular. 

97. Verbs of regular terminations, when sanctioned 
by good usage, are preferable to irregular forms ; there- 
fore, blessed, crossed, fixed, mixed, missed, passed, step- 
ped, &c, are preferable to blest, crost, fixt, mixt, mist, 
past, stept, &c. 

98. Drank and drunk. If we would convey the 
idea, that water or other liquid has been imbibed, swal- 
lowed, or received into the stomach, we should use 
drank and not drunk. Drunk is used only in a passive 
sense, and means inebriated or intoxicated ; as, he drank 
too much w 7 ine, and is drunk. 

99. A participle is not a distinct part of speech, but 



ADVERB. 31 

is a certain form of the verb, having the nature of a verb, 
an adjective, and a noun. 

100. There are five participles belonging to verbs ; 
two in the active voice, present teaching, compound per- 
fect having taught ; and three in the passive voice, pres- 
ent being taught, perfect taught, compound perfect hav- 
ing been taught ; besides the compound perfect having 
been teaching, from the compound active verb. 

Note. The whole number of verbs in the English language, 
says Bishop Lowth, regular and irregular, simple and compound, 
taken together, is about 4,300. And the whole number of irregu- 
lar verbs, the defective included, is about 177. 

ADVERB. 

101. Adverb comes from the Latin "ad" and "ver- 
bum"; and it signifies that something is added to the 
verb. 

102. It is well known to etymologists, that what are 
commonly called adverbs, prepositions, and conjunctions, 
are contractions and abbreviations of ancient Saxon verbs 
and nouns. These contractions and abbreviations, which 
have received new names, and are now differently parsed, 
render our language concise and significant, by expressing 
in one w T ord what would require two or more words ; 
as, he did it here, for, he did it in this place ; there, for 
in that place ; where, for, in ichat place ; now, for, at 
this time ; deliberately, for, in a deliberate manner ; hoic, 
for, in what mind, mode, or manner ; why, for, what 
reason, &c. 

103. The most prolific source of these contractions 
and abbreviations, is that in ly, a contraction of like ; 
as, manty, from manZifce ; godly, from godlike ; gentle- 
manZj/, from gentlemanZifce, &c. 

Note. Many words in our language still retain this Anglo- 



32 ETYMOLOGY. 

Saxon termination like, (lie or liche,) which implies similitude; as, 
\a.&y-like, warlike, lion-like, Jxid&s-like, scholar-^&e, &c. 

104. Most adverbs ending in ly, are formed from ad- 
jectives ; as, wisely, foolishly, studiousZt/, lately, recent- 
ly, ancient/?/, formerly, presentZ?/, immediateZi/, directZy, 
shortZi/, instantZt/, frequentZy, rarely, generally, lastZj/, 
sureZy, safeZj/, &c. 

105. Some participles become adverbs by adding to 
them the termination ly ; as, decided Zj/, repeated/?/, 
knowingZjy, savingZy, willingZjy, assured/?/, &c* 

106. Some adverbs are formed by subjoining preposi- 
tions to adverbs of place ; as, hereof, thereof, whereof; 
hereby, thereby, whereby ; herein, therein, wherein ; 
hereon, thereon, whereon; hitherto, hereafter, &c. 

107. Some adverbs are formed by prefixing the letter 
a to nouns ; as, aside, ashore, again, away, aboard, 
afoot, abed, aground, afield ; and others, by prefix- 
ing the letter a to adjectives; as, abroad, along, alike, 
anew, &c. In such instances, a is probably the French 
preposition a, and has the meaning of to or on. 

Note 1. The following may serve to give some further idea of 
these contractions and abbreviations ; almost, all-most ; also, ail- 
so ; already, all is ready ; always, all-ways ; only, one-like ; (alone, 
all-one;) never, not-ever ; finally, final-like; lastly, last-like; oth- 
erwise, other-ways ; indeed, in deed ; often, oft-time ; per 'adventure, 
(per Latin) by adventure, &c. 

Note 2. Adrift, in the Saxon language, is a perfect participle, 
from " adrifan," to drive. It is thus contracted, adrifed, adrifd, 
adrift. The same is true of other words ; as, asunder, from 
u asondrian," to separate ; astray, from " straegan," to stray ; a- 
wry, from" wrythan," to writhe; needs, need is. Ay ox yea signi- 
fies have it, enjoy it. Yes is ay-es, have, possess, enjoy it. Straight- 
way, by a straight way. While, wheel ; a period in which some- 
thing whiles or wheels itself round. These hints are sufficient to 
give the learner some idea of the subject. 

* See Appendix, No. II. 



PREPOSITION. 33 

108. The words, when and where, and all others of 
the same nature, such as whence, whither, whenever, 
wherever, till, until, before, otherwise, while, wherefore, 
&c. may properly be called adverbial conjunctions, be- 
cause they participate the nature both of adverbs and con- 
junctions ; of adverbs, as they denote the attributes 
either of time or place ; of conjunctions, as they conjoin 
sentences. 

Note. The words, as and so, when and then, ivhere and there, 
are frequently used as corresponding adverbs. So corresponds with 
as ; then, with when; and there, with where. 

109. Adverbs frequently qualify prepositions ; as, he 
sailed nearly round the globe ; they have studied almost 
through the lesson ; the beggar is almost without a coat ; 
he lives far from town. See Note 1 under Rule 30. 

110. Some adverbs, which stand for whole sentences^ 
do not seem to qualify any particular word ; as, did you 
see him ? Yes, no, yea, nay, &c. 

111. To tell whether a word be an adjective or ad- 
verb, substitute the verb, be, in the place of the verb, 
and if the expression make good sense, the following 
word is an adjective, rather than an adverb ; as, the rose 
looks (is) beautiful and smells (is) sweet ; the ice feels 
(is) cold ; the apple tastes (is) sour. See Note under 
Rule 6, and also Note 2 under Rule 30. 

Note. Scholars should be taught to distinguish accurately be- 
tween the adjective and the adverb. Thus, a gold headed cane is 
not a gold cane. An iron bound cask is not an iron cask. Blue 
black cloth is not blue cloth, but a black cloth of a blue shade. A 
light purple dress may not be a very light dress. 

PREPOSITION. 

112. Preposition comes from the two Latin words, 
"pre," before, and " pono," to place. It is so called, 



34 ETYMOLOGY. 

because it is usually placed before the word which it gov- 
erns in the objective case. 

113. Prepositions are not only placed before nouns 
and pronouns which they govern in the objective case, 
but they are used also to connect these nouns and pro- 
nouns with other words, and to show the relation be- 
tween them ; as, the boy threw his hat up stairs, — un- 
der the bed, — behind the table, — through the window, 
— over the house, — across the street, — into the water. 
These several prepositions show two kinds of relation ; 
one an existing relation between the hat and the other 
nouns, stairs, bed, table, window, house, street, and water ; 
and the other, a connecting relation between the verb, 
threw, and these same nouns. The connecting relation 
is the more important, and is the one usually regarded by 
grammarians. 

114. Aslant, ere, till, saving, which are sometimes 
used as prepositions, may be added to the list mentioned 
in No. 178 of C. S. Grammar. 

115. A, co, con, de, dis, e, ex, mis, per, pre, re, un, 
&c, are sometimes called inseparable prepositions, be- 
cause they are united with other words, from which they 
cannot be separated without altering their meaning. 

116. The inseparable prepositions generally give a 
new meaning to the words with which they are joined ; 
as, close, disclose ; do, undo ; face, deface, efface, pre- 
face ; text, context, pretext ; coy, decoy ; taste, distaste ; 
heir, coheir ; turn, return ; missive, submissive ; commu- 
nicate, excommunicate, &c. 

117. Prepositions and other parts of speech are exten- 
sively compounded with other words in our language ; 
as, aboveboard, afteroavt, beforehand, by nath, downfall, 
instep, offspring, onward, toward, outgoings, incomings, 
uprisings, rfownsittings, overwork, upland, withdraw, un- 



CONJUNCTION. 35 

derstand, &c. These, and such like, are called prefixes. 
They are placed before words in order to vary their 
meaning. * 

Note 1. With, in composition, retains the signification, which it 
has among others in the Saxon, of from or against ; as, to with- 
hold, to withstand, to withdraw. For, also, has a negative signifi- 
cation, from the Saxon ; as, to forbid, to forget. So, also, when a 
preposition is used after a verb, it frequently alters its meaning ; as, 
to cast, is to throw ; but to cast up, or to compute, an account, is 
quite a different thing. 

Note 2. From, in the Anglo-Saxon, means beginning; as, he 
came from (beginning) Boston. Of or off means offspring; as, 
Solomon, the son of (offspring) David. It signifies disjointed or 
sundered. For signifies cause ; as, I write for your information, 
that being the cause. By or be is the imperative of the Saxon verb 
to be. With is the imperative of the Saxon verb " withan," to 
join. In comes from a Gothic word, which means cave or cell. 
About, from a word, which means limit ox boundary. Among, from 
a verb, which means to mingle. Through, from a word, which 
means passage, gate, or door. Before (be or fo/-fore), behind, Mow, 
feside, besides, beneath, are formed by combining the imperative be 
or by, with the nouns, fore, hind, low, side, neath. Neath means 
the same as nadir. Between, betwixt, dual prepositions, be or by and 
twain. Beyond means passed by, from be or by and yond. Notivith- 
standing, not with standing, &c. &c. 

118. The particle a before participles, in the phrases 
a coming, a going, a walking, a shooting, &c. and before 
nouns, as a bed, a board, a shore, a foot, &c. seem to 
be used in the sense of a preposition. See No. 107. 



CONJUNCTION. 

119. Conjunction comes from the two Latin words, 
u con, 5 ' with or together, and "jungo," to join. It 
is called a conjunction, because it is used to connect to- 
gether sentences and words. 

* See Appendix, No. I. 



36 ETYMOLOGY. 

120. There are two kinds of conjunctions, the copula- 
tive and the disjunctive. 

121. The copulative conjunction not only connects 
two sentences together, but it connects the sense also, and 
continues the meaning ; as, I understand you, and I will 
endeavor to obey your commands. 

122. The disjunctive conjunction, though it connects 
two sentences together, does not continue the sense, but 
expresses opposition of meaning in different degrees ; so 
that, while it conjoins sentences, it disjoins the sense ; 
as, I understand you, but I will not obey. 

123. The disjunctive conjunctions do not always ex- 
press an equal degree of opposition of meaning. This 
depends very much upon the nature of the subject which 
they disjoin; as, " every proposition is true or false." 
Here the opposition is the strongest possible, because 
nothing in nature is more opposite than truth and false- 
hood. Again, M that figure is a sphere or a globe." 
Here the conjunction merely disjoins two names, sphere 
and globe, which belong to the same thing ; and the oppo- 
sition is rather an opposition of name than of meaning. 

124. Disjunctive conjunctions are sometimes used, not 
merely to express opposition, but equality, which arises 
from comparison ; as, Virgil was as great a poet, as Cic- 
ero was an orator ; Dr. Channing is as great a divine, as 
Daniel Webster is a statesman. 

Note. It has already been remarked, No. 102 of this work, that 
what are commonly called adverbs, prepositions, and conjunctions, 
are really contractions and abbreviations of ancient Saxon verbs and 
nouns. By this remark, I do not mean to deny the distinctive 
character of either of these parts of speech, or to call in question 
the propriety of parsing them as we do at present ; but I think 
something may be gained by inquiring a little into their etymology, 
and endeavoring to discover their original meaning. "With this ob- 
ject in view, lejt us examine a few of the most common conjunc- 
tions. 



CONJUNCTION. 37 

And, in the Anglo-Saxon, was a perfect participle, from the verb 
" anan or ananad," to add, to join. It was formerly written aned, 
oned, arid, and; and its meaning was added, joined, united. From 
this same verb, a, an, and one, have been derived, which point out 
whatever is aned, oned, or made one. And signifies, that whatever 
goes before and follows after it, is added, joined, united, or made 
one; as, two and three and four {aned, oned, arid, and, that is, 
added) make nine. And has the same meaning when it connects 
sentences. 

As, says J. H. Tooke, originally had the meaning of it, that, or 
which ; and it still retains something of the same meaning ; as, 
" the lily is as (that) white as (which) snow (is)." " I can read 
as (that) well as (which) he (can)." As, in the sense of ivhen or 
while, is an adverbial conjunction, having time understood for its an- 
tecedent ; as, " I saw you as (when) you passed ;" that is, I saw 
you at the time when or at which you passed. As, when a simple 
conjunction, has nearly the meaning of since or because, and con- 
nects sentences ; as, " as (since or because) you understand me, I 
shall say no more." As seems to be used in the sense of a copula- 
tive conjunction, though it is usually classed as a disjunctive. 

But comes from a Saxon verb, "be-utan," which means to 
be out or to leave out; as, " all were well but (leave out) the 
stranger." There is another but in English, from bot, the impera- 
tive of " botan," which means to add, to superadd, or to boot ; as, 
I understand, but (add) I will not obey. 

For means cause. Because is a compound of the verb be or by, 
and the noun cause ; as, I believe the maxim, be-cause I know it to 
be true ; that is, the cause of my belief, be, or is, I know it to be 
true. Nor is a contraction of neor. Ne is a contraction of not y 
and or, of other. Nor means not other. 

If, in the ancient Saxon, was a verb in the imperative mode, 
from " gifan," to give, grant, allow, admit, suppose; as, " if one 
book cost twenty-five cents, what will nine cost at the same rate? " 
"if," (give, grant, allow, admit, suppose, the fact,) " one book 
costs twenty-five cents, &c." This word has been written differ- 
ently at different periods, gyff, giff, giffe, give, gin, yiff, yef, yeve, 

That, than, (then,) from the Saxon verb "thean," the same 

root that the article the is derived from, all originally conveyed the 

same meaning, to get, take, assume, but are now used as different 

parts of speech, and convey a somewhat different meaning ; as, " I 

4 



38 ETYMOLOGY. 

wish you to believe, that " (the assumed fact) " I would not wil- 
lingly hurt a fly." Than is used to define the particular object with 
which a comparison is made; as, " truth is better than''' (that 
thing, the assumed) "falsehood." Then means that time, or the 
time, assumed. 

Unless, else, and lest, all three have one meaning, being derived 
from the Saxon verbs, " on-lesan," " a-lesan," and " lesan," to 
dismiss, release, omit, leave out; as, " he will be punished, unless " 
(dismiss, release, omit, or leave out, the fact) " he repent ; " " you 
must study, else " (dismiss, release, omit, ox leave out) "you will 
not be wise; " "take heed, lest" (dismiss, release, omit, or leave 
out) " you fall." 

Though was the imperative of the Saxon verb, " thafigan," to 
grant, allow ; and yet, of " getan," to get. Yet is simply get, the 
ancient g is our modern y. " Though " (grant or allow the fact) 
" he slay me, yet " (get or retain the opposite fact) " I will trust 
in him." 

Those who wish to pursue this subject further, are referred to 
John Home Tooke's " Diversions of Purley." 

INTERJECTION. 

125. Interjection comes from the Latin, "inter" 
and " jacio," to throw betioeen ; and, in English, it sig- 
nifies exclamation. 

Note. Some writers have denied the existence of interjections, 
as a part of speech, on the ground, that they are mere words and 
sounds, which do not convey any distinct idea to the mind. Thus, 
John Home Tooke says, " The dominion of speech is erected upon 
the downfall of interjections. Without the artful contrivances of 
language, mankind would have nothing but interjections with 
which to communicate, orally, any of their feelings. The neigh- 
ing of a horse, the lowing of a cow, the barking of a dog, the 
purring of a cat, sneezing, coughing, groaning, shrieking, and 
every other involuntary convulsion, with oral sound, have almost 
as good a title to be called parts of speech as interjections have." 



RULES. 39 



SYNTAX 



126. Syntax is derived from the Greek word, ovv* 
TuSiQy a compound of ovr, with or together, and Taacxw, to 
place, to arrange, or to dispose of, in a certain manner ; 
and it signifies the construction and arrangement of words, 

127. The construction and arrangement of words in a 
sentence, depend on their position, agreement, and gov- 
ernment. 

128. Position is the place which each word occupies ; 
agreement, the relation which one word bears to another ; 
and government, the power or influence which one part 
of speech has over another. 

Note. It is not the design of this work to repeat what has been 
sufficiently explained in the former. Under the head of Syntax, 
therefore, I shall merely repeat the Rules, and give such further 
illustration of them as their different subjects may seem to require. 

RULES. 

Rule 1. The indefinite article, a or an, agrees with 
nouns in the singular number only, individually or collec- 
tively. 

Note 1. When several adjectives are connected together, ex- 
pressive of the various qualities of things individually different, 
the article should be repeated before each ; as, "# black and a 
white cat," signifies, a black cat and a white cat. But, when the 
qualities all belong to the same object, the article should not be 
repeated; as, "a black and white cat" describes the two colors 
of one cat. 

Note 2. An is sometimes used in the sense of if; as, " Nay, 
an (if) you weep, I am fallen indeed." Shakspeare. So, at the 
present day, we sometimes say, " do it an (if) you will." See 
No. 34 ; also if, under No. 124. 

Rule 2. The definite article, the, agrees with nouns 
either in the singular or plural number. 



40 SYNTAX. 

Rule 3. The nominative case governs the verb in 
number and person. 

Rule 4. A verb must agree with its nominative 
case in number and person. 

FALSE SYNTAX, RULES 3 AND 4. 

What avails our efforts ? There has been many opin- 
ions expressed on the subject. Was you at the meeting 
last evening ? There were a great number of persons 
present. The number of the inhabitants are very small. 
All the ships in the navy has been employed. Fifty-five 
pounds of wheat contains forty pounds of flour. Forty- 
eight pence is four shillings. The ship, with all her 
crew, were lost. 

Rule 5. A noun or pronoun in the possessive case, 
is governed by the noun it possesses. 

Note 1. Such idiomatic phrases as the following, " the king of 
Great Britain* s prerogative;" "the duke of Bridgewater' s ca- 
nal;" "the bishop of Landaff's excellent book; " "the captain 
of the guard's house," should, I think, be studiously avoided, as 
they do not literally convey the ideas intended. The best way to 
dispose of them, perhaps, is to consider each of the several phrases 
printed in Italics as one noun in the possessive case, and governed 
by the following noun. 

Note 2. When two or more nouns in the possessive are in ap- 
position, and follow each other in quick succession, the sign of the 
possessive is generally annexed to the last only; as, John, the 
Baptist's head ; for David, my servant's sake ; for Herodias' sake, 
his brother Philip's wife;- that is, for the sake of Herodias , the 
wife of his brother Philip. Wife is in the possessive case, in ap- 
position with Herodias ; and brother and Philip are both in the pos- 
sessive case, in apposition, and are governed by wife. 

Note 3. Sometimes, when the noun which governs the posses- 
sive case is understood, the sign of the possessive is applied to the 
first possessive only, and understood of the rest ; as, I reside at 
Mr. Mason's, my old patron and benefactor. 

Note 4. Phrases, like the following, a work of Washington Ir- 



RULES. 41 

ving's, a brother of Joseph's, a friend of mine, a neighbour of 
yours, cannot be parsed without supplying a noun understood, 
except by considering the last word in each to be in what some 
call a twofold case ; that is, supplying the place of the possessive 
and the objective. 

Rule 6. Adjectives agree with the nouns and pro- 
nouns which they describe or qualify. 

Note. Adjectives are often used to modify the sense of other 
adjectives, or the action of verbs ; as, red hot iron ; pale blue cloth ; 
the apples boil soft ; the eggs boil hard ; the clay burns white ; the 
fire burns blue. In each of these instances, the adjectives agree 
with their respective nouns, though at the same time they are used 
to modify the meaning of other words. See No. Ill, and also 
Note 2 under Rule 30. 

Rule 7. Numeral adjectives and adjective pronouns 
agree with their nouns in number. 

Note 1. When one thing only is intended, it is proper to say, 
by this means, and by that means ; when more than one is intended, 
by these means, and by those means ; as, he attended closely to his 
business, and by this means acquired his property; the scholars 
were attentive, industrious, and obedient, and by these means ac- 
quired knowledge. In these instances, the demonstrative pronouns 
agree with their nouns in number, because the word means is used 
either in the singular or plural. 

Note 2. Each seems to be used sometimes in the sense of an 
adverb; as, "the scholars have each recited their lesson; " that 
is, separately, severally, or individually. 

Rule 8. Active transitive verbs govern the objec- 
tive case. 

Rule 9. Active participles, from active transitive 
verbs, govern the objective case. 

false syntax, rules 8 and 9. 
Who did you see ? He invited my brother and I to 
pay him a visit. Who did they expect to see ? He 
who committed the crime, the law must punish. Sus- 
pecting not only thou, but they, I studiously avoided all 
4* 



42 SYNTAX. 

intercourse. Who should I meet, but he ? Ye who 
were dead, hath he quickened. These are the rules of 
grammar, by observing of which you may avoid mis- 
takes. 

Rule 10. Prepositions govern the objective case. 

FALSE SYNTAX. 

Who did you speak to ? It is not I who he is dis- 
pleased with. Who did you receive instruction from ? 
The tea was poured out for he and his wife. Who did 
you go with ? Between you and I there is some dispar- 
ity of years, but none between he and she. Who did 
you give it to ? There is coffee enough for John and I. 

Rule 11. When an address is made, the noun or 
pronoun addressed, is put in the vocative case independ- 
ent. 

Note. The propriety of this rule will be doubted by no one 
who considers the meaning of the word, vocative, and the differ- 
ence between it and the nominative case. The nominative case is 
the agent, actor, or doer, or the subject of a verb ; but the vocative 
case is neither agent, actor, or doer, nor the subject of a verb. It 
is simply used in calling a person, or in making a direct address ; 
as, young ladies, time should be improved ; young gentlemen, you 
must stand in your places ; boys, come in ; take your seats, girls ; 
George, speak louder ; listen, Jane. 

Rule 12. A noun or pronoun placed before a par- 
ticiple, and being independent of the rest of the sentence, 
is in the nominative case absolute. 

EXAMPLES. 

The lessons having been recited, the scholars were 
dismissed ; pride prevailing, man becomes a slave to fan- 
cy ; the sun being risen, we travelled on ; virtue being 
abandoned, and conscience reproaching us, we become 
terrified with imaginary evils ; " Jesus had conveyed 
■himself away, a multitude being in that place." 



RULES. 43 

Note 1. It often happens, that a noun or pronoun following a 
neuter or passive participial noun, is in the nominative ease abso- 
lute, even though the participial noun be in a different case, and 
governed by some other word ; as, there is no doubt of his being 
a great statesman ; I have some recollection of his father's being a 
judge ; to prevent its being a dry detail of terms ; I had no appre- 
hension of your being his brother ; Plymouth is noted for being the 
first settled town in New England ; Elba is remarkable for being 
the place to w 7 hich Bonaparte was banished ; Cambridge is famous 
for being the place where General Washington first took the com- 
mand of the American armies ; a man may possess a fine genius, 
without being a perfect leader ; his being chosen governor was an 
unexpected event ; I remember its being reckoned a great exploit. 

Note 2. As the above note may not be satisfactory, I suggest 
two other methods of parsing such idiomatic phrases. 1. To con- 
sider the participial noun and the noun following it and whatever 
comes between them, as one noun, and to parse them accordingly. 
2. To parse the noun, which follows the participial noun, in the 
possessive case, and put it in apposition with the noun or pronoun 
which always precedes it, either expressed or understood ; as, I 
heard of his being a good scholar ; who can bear the thought of 
(his) being an outcast from his presence ? I am not conscious of 
(my) being your enemy. 

Note 3. This idiomatic form of expression is very common in 
our language, though it has been almost entirely overlooked by 
grammarians. Without determining which of the above exposi- 
tions is correct, it will be sufficient to say, that the first is defend- 
ed by Mr. Sanborn ; the second, by Professor Channing ; and the 
last, by the compiler. 

Rule 13. Two or more nouns, or nouns and pro- 
nouns, signifying the same thing, agree in case. 

FALSE SYNTAX. 

I saw Joseph, he that visited us yesterday. It was 

John, him who came from Boston. I love George and 

his brother, they who went to New York last week. 

Note. When two nouns are separated by as, and no comparison 
is made between them, the latter noun may agree in case with the 
former; as, I consider him as my friend ; I recommend him as a 



44 SYxNTAX. 

teacher ; of which I gave it as my opinion ; he gave all his children 
as hostages ; duelling, as a punishment, is absurd ; he offered hint' 
self as a journeyman ; people regard him as a man. By supplying 
the ellipsis, however, these phrases may be differently parsed. 

Rule 14. Two or more nouns, or nouns and pro- 
nouns, in the singular number, connected together by 
and, either expressed or understood, must have verbs, 
nouns, and pronouns agreeing with them in the plural 
number. 

Note I. Two or more nouns of similar meaning, connected by 
the conjunction and, and conveying but one idea, are frequently 
nominative case to a verb singular ; as, joy and gladness fills every 
heart. Two sentences, also, connected by and, but conveying 
only one idea, are frequently nominative case to a verb singular ; 
as, to fear God, and to keep his commandments, is the whole duty 
of man ; doing justice, loving mercy, and walking humbly, carries 
its own reward along with it. 

Note 2. A verb singular sometimes agrees with two or more 
nominatives singular preceded by no, (each or every,) referring to 
each separately ; as, no earthquake, no tornado, no pestilence, has 
desolated or afflicted our dwellings. 

Note 3. When personal pronouns of different persons, and in 
the singular number, are connected together by copulative conjunc- 
tions, not only must the verb and the subsequent pronouns be in the 
plural number, but they must agree with the first person in pref- 
erence to the second, and with the second person in preference 
to the third ; as, " he and you and 7, at the hazard of our lives, 
won the prize for ourselves." He and you' and I make we in 
the first person plural number ; and the verb, won, as well as the 
pronouns, our and ourselves, is therefore in the first person plural. 
Again, "you and he told your story, and you were believed." You 
and he make you in the second person plural number ; and the verbs, 
told and were believed, as well as the pronouns, your and you, are 
therefore in the second person plural. 

Note 4. The same holds true, when nouns and pronouns are 
used in the same connexion ; as, 

" The last evening ramble we made, 
Catharina, Maria, and I, 
Our progress was often delayed 
By the nightingale warbling nigh. 



RULES. 45 

We paused under many a tree, 

And much she was charmed with a tone 

Less sweet to Maria and me, 

Who so lately had witnessed her own." 

Cowper. 

Rule 15. Two or more nouns, or nouns and pro- 
nouns, in the singular number, connected together by 
disjunctive conjunctions, must have verbs, nouns, and 
pronouns agreeing with them in the singular number. 

Note. When nouns and pronouns of different persons and num- 
bers are connected by disjunctive conjunctions, they cannot be nom- 
inative to one and the same verb ; as, " J, or they, or he, is the 
author of it." By some, this is thought to be good grammar, but 
it is not. It is bad grammar to say, " lis the author of it," " they 
is the author of it," even though it be followed by the phrase, 
" he is the author of it." The same is true of the following- ex- 
ample : u George or I am the person." This should be written, 
" either George is the person, or I am." 

Rule 16. A collective noun, or noun of multitude, 
conveying unity of idea, generally has a verb or pronoun 
agreeing with it in the singular number. 

Rule 17. A noun of multitude, conveying plurality 
of idea, must have a verb or pronoun agreeing with it 
in the plural number. 

Rule 18. Pronouns must agree with the nouns for 
which they stand, in gender, number, and person. 

Note. You is often applied, by way of respect or courtesy, to 
& single person, for thou or thee; as, sister, I have come to visit 
you, believing you would be happy to see me. Having a plural 
form, you requires its verb to have a plural form, even when it is 
used in the singular ; as, brother, you are certainly in the wrong. 
You was formerly restricted to the plural number ; but it is now 
used to represent either a singular or plural noun. 

FALSE SYNTAX, RULE 18. 

Every man will be rewarded according to their works. 
Each person must decide for themselves. Take the 



46 SYNTAX. 

scissors, and put it on the table. Every one must judge 
of their own feelings. Every individual can render them- 
selves happy. No one should be displeased with their 
own nature. 

Rule 19. Relative pronouns must agree with their 
antecedents, in gender, number, and person, 

FALSE SYNTAX. 

Another man was killed, which make the seventh 
which have lost their lives in this way. Our Father, 
which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. I am the 
person which told you. Judas, who is only another 
name for treachery, betrayed his master. Benedict Ar- 
nold, who is but another name for treason, turned a trai- 
tor. Who of these two persons is most respected ? 

Note. When the name of a person is used as a mere word, 
without reference to the person, which, and not who, should be 
used. Which, also, when interrogative, is used to distinguish one 
from others. 

Rule 20. The relative is the nominative case to 
the verb, when no nominative comes between it and the 
verb. 

Rule 21. When a nominative comes between the re- 
lative and the verb, the relative is governed by the follow- 
ing verb, or by some other word in its own member of the 
sentence. 

FALSE SYNTAX, RULES 20 AND 21. 

This is the man, whom he informed me, was my bene- 
factor. They who much is given to, will have much to 
answer for. He is a man who I greatly respect. From 
the character of those who you associate with, your own 
will be estimated. Who did you hear ? 

Note. The following, though established by good usage, are un- 
grammatical. " Mr. Addison, than whom no writer is more pure 



RULES. 47 

in his style." " The Duke of Argyle, than whom no man was 
more hearty in the cause." " Cromwell, than whom no man was 
better skilled in artifice." " Beelzebub, than whom, Satan except, 
none higher sat." To show that these expressions are ungram- 
matical, we have only to substitute the personal pronoun, him, for 
the relative whom. 

Rule 22. Neuter and passive verbs take the same 
case after them as before them, when both words refer to 
the same person or thing. 

Note. The nominative which governs the verb, is called the sub- 
ject nominative ; the nominative after the verb, or what is affirmed 
of the subject, is called the predicate nominative ; as, Jam the many- 
Irving is a good writer ; he was called Ccesar. 

FALSE SYNTAX. 

It was not him ; it was me, If I were him, I should 
do differently. Whom do men say that I am ? Whom 
say ye that I am ? Who do you fancy him to be ? If 
it were not him, who do you imagine it to have been ? 
He supposed it was me ; but you know it was him. I 
know it was them. You know it to be he. 

Rule 23. The infinitive mode may be governed by a 

verb, a noun, or an adjective. 

Note. A verb in the infinitive mode seems to refer to some noun 
or pronoun, either in the nominative or objective case, as concerned 
in the action expressed by the infinitive ; as, I saw him study ; that 
is, I saw him studying. The verb study, refers to him, in the same 
manner, that the participle studying does. Besides, the infinitive 
mode is often used after so as or such as, by which phrases it is con- 
nected to the word by which it is governed ; as, they unite so as to 
form one whole ; they are connected so intimately as to be insepar- 
able ; let us live so as to have a good conscience. 

Rule 24. Those verbs which follow bid, dare, let, 

need, make, see, hear, feel, &c. are used in the infinitive 

mode, without the sign to. 

Note. When the verbs see, hear, feel, let, made, and bid, are 
used in the passive voice, the sign to is usually expressed after 



48 SYNTAX. 

them ; as, he was seen to enter the house ; he was heard to speak, 
&c. 

FALSE SYNTAX. 

He bid me to come. He helps me to do it. It is 
this which makes us to approve the one, and to reject the 
other. He was made speak to all present. I wish him 
not wrestle with his own happiness. They have been 
heard say the same thing. 

Rule 25. The infinitive mode, or part of a sentence, 
is frequently used as the nominative case to the verb, and 
may have an adjective or participle agreeing with it. 

Note. When the infinitive is thus used, it is called a verbal noun ; 
and a part of a sentence thus used, is called a sentential noun ; as, 
to live well, is required of all ; that one man should be punished for 
the crimes of another, is unjust ; to be a Christian, is honorable ; 
that children should obey their parents, is right. 

Rule 26. Active transitive verbs of asking, teaching, 
giving, and some others, frequently govern two objective 
cases, the one of the person^ and the other of the thing. 
Note. See note under the same rule in C. S. Grammar. 

Rule 27. Passive verbs of asking, teaching, &c. 
sometimes have an objective case after them. 

Note 1 . Though this rule was intended to provide for the pars- 
ing of such examples as the following ; he was given money ; she 
was shown a picture ; I was told a tale ; he icas paid his wages ; I am 
offered a shilling ; yet, in my opinion, such expressions are improp- 
er, and ought not to be used. See No. 88 of this work. 

Note 2. Verbs are sometimes used causatively, or in a causative 
sense ; as, " I walked the horse," for I caused the horse to walk. 
" He trots the pony," for he causes the pony to trot, &c. 

Note 3. Verbs are sometimes improperly used for other verbs ; 
as, " Iioas called on," for I was visited. Call means to name or 
summon. "The farmer grows corn;" "The boy grieves his 
friends; " "The clerk of the court swears the witness." Here 
grows, grieves, and swears, are used for cultivates, afflicts, and ad- 
jures. " He danced the child," for he tossed or dandled the child. 



RULES. 49 

Rule 28. Nouns signifying time, place, distance, 
duration, extension, quantity, quality or valuation, height 
or depth, are frequently put in the objective case, either 
with or without a governing word. 

EXAMPLES. 

He lived twenty years with his brother ; the Ohio river 
is one thousand miles long ; my knife cost a dollar ; his 
slate is worth a shilling ; he has been there three times ; 
I saw him yesterday ; he will come again tomorrow ; the 
load weighs a ton. 

Rule 29. Participles agree with the nouns and pro- 
nouns to which they refer. 

Note. Participles of neuter and passive verbs have the same case 
after them as before them ; as, Tyler being the man of our choice, 
was elected ; he having been chosen President, accepted the office ; 
being an aged man, he was cautious ; having been left an heir, he 
became prodigal. 

Rule 30. Adverbs qualify verbs, participles, adjec- 
tives, prepositions, and other adverbs. 

Note 1. That adverbs frequently qualify prepositions, take the 
following examples, in addition to those given in No. 109 of this 
work. He went nearly through the woods ; I saw him far from 
home ; he stooped almost to the ground ; I stood on the hill direct- 
ly over him, and quite above him ; he is now far beyond the reach 
of harm. 

Note 2. To distinguish accurately between adjectives and ad- 
verbs, the learner should consider whether quality or manner is in- 
dicated. In the former case, the word is an adjective, in the latter, 
an adverb. See No. Ill of this work, and also Note under Rule 6. 

Rule 31. Two negatives, in English, destroy one 
another, and are generally equivalent to an affirmative. 

Note. When two or more negatives are used for the sake of 
emphasis, they strengthen the negation ; as, " never, no, never, 
will I submit to such degradation; " " no, no, I shall never do 
it." 

5 



50 SYNTAX. 

FALSE SYNTAX. 

He did not say nothing. I do not know nothing about 
it. I cannot by no means allow it. Do not let no one 
inform him of it. I did not see nobody. There cannot 
be nothing more insignificant than vanity. Do you not 
know nothing ? 

Rule 32. Conjunctions usually connect verbs of the 
same mode and tense, and nouns and pronouns of the 
same case. 

Note, See notes in C* S. Grammar. 

Rule 33. When the qualities of different things are 
compared, the latter noun or pronoun is not governed by 
the conjunction than or as, but is either in the nomina- 
tive case to some verb understood, or in the objective 
case, and governed by some verb or preposition, ex- 
pressed or understood. 

Note, In the various instances in which this rule applies, there 
is an ellipsis, or omission of some word or words, which must be 
supplied in the mind in order to parse correctly. 

FALSE SYNTAX. 

He knows better than me. I am younger than her. 
They know how to write as well as him ; but he is a 
better scholar than them. Than him, no one is a better 
grammarian. He instructed me as well as she. She 
suffers more than me. He is older than her. He was 
stronger than them. 

ELLIPSIS. 

129. Grammatical ellipsis is the omission of one or 
more words for the sake of brevity or elegance ; which 
word or words the construction requires to be supplied ; 
as. 



TRANSPOSITION. 51 

" What* though, in solemn silence, all 
Move round the dark, terrestrial ball ! " 

Addison. 
" Whatf if the foot, ordained the dust to tread, 
Or hand, to toil, aspired to be the head? " 

Pope. 

130. Most compound sentences are more or less el- 
liptical. The following is an example of the verb : 

" All nature is but art, unknown to thee ; 
All chance, (is) direction, which thou canst not see ; 
All discord, (is) harmony not understood ; 
All partial evil, (is) universal good." 

Pope. 

TRANSPOSITION. 

131. Transposition is the placing of words out of 
their natural order, for the sake of giving force and beau- 
ty to the expression. This generally takes place in po- 
etry, and in labored and elevated prose. 

example 1. 

" In the days of Joram, king of Israel, flourished the 

prophet Elish." "If thou seek the Lord, he will be 

found of thee ; but, if thou forsake him, he will cast 

thee off forever." 

Transposed. 

" Elish the prophet flourished in the days of Joram, 
king of Israel." " The Lord will be found of thee, if 
thou seek him ; but he will cast thee off forever, if thou 
forsake him." 

EXAMPLE 2. 

" Daughter of heaven, relentless power, 
Thou tamer of the human breast, 

* " What " difference does it make ? 
t " What " would be the consequence ? 



52 SYNTAX. 

Whose iron scourge, and torturing hour. 

The bad affright, afflict the best ! 

The gen'rous spark extinct revive ; 

Teach me to love and to forgive ; 

Exact my own defects to scan : 

What others are to feel ; and know myself a man." 

Transposed. 
Daughter of heaven, relentless power, thou tamer of 
the human breast, whose iron scourge and torturing hour 
affright the bad, and afflict the best ! Revive thou in 
me the generous, extinct spark ; and teach thou me to 
love others, and to forgive them ; and teach thou me that 
which others are to feel ; and make thou me to know 
myself a man. 

Examples, in which the words are numbered, as they 
should stand in prose. 



1. u In yonder grave, your druid lies ; 

7 12 11 8 9 10 

Where slowly winds the stealing wave ; 

12 3 4 5 7 6 

The year's best sweets shall duteous rise 



6 



8 9 10 11 12 13 

To deck the poet's sylvan grave." 

Collins. 

8 9 10 11 12 13 # 14 

2. "■ In yon deep bed of whisp'ring reeds, 

12 3 4 5 6 7 

His airy harp shall now be laid ; 

15 16 17 18 20 21 19 

That he, whose heart, in sorrow, bleeds, 

22 23 27 28 24 25 26 

May love, through life, the pleasing shade." 

Ibid, 

12 3 4 5 6 7 

3. " When my breast labors with oppressive care ; 

8 13 14 15 12 9 10 11 

And o'er my cheek, descends the falling tear ; 



FALSE SYNTAX. 53 

16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 

While all my warring passions are at strife ; 

242526 27 28 29 30 31 32 

O let me listen to the words of life ! 

6 5 12 3 4 

Raptures deep-felt, his doctrine did impart ; 

7 8 9 10 14 15 11 12 13 

And thus he raised, from earth, the drooping heart." 

Thomson. 



PROMISCUOUS EXAMPLES OF FALSE SYNTAX. 

Give me them pens. This is the greatest of the two. 
The man which I saw. 4 and 4 is 8. 3 times 3 is 9. 
I do not like those kind of goods. These kind is better. 
Either of us are able. Neither of us were there. Each 
of us were going. My coat is most wore out. It lays 
in the house. He was took by the sheriff. He come 
from Boston yesterday. You was there. They was 
wrong. I see him yesterday. He sets there now. I 
have wrote a letter. Who done that ? He done it. Is 
it true, or no 9 If I was sick, I should stay to home. 
It is not me ; impossible ! it cannot be me. The vessel 
lays at the wharf. She has got her sails furled. Will 
you go or no 9 I enjoy bad health. He speaks proper. 
I had as lives as not. I expect it was so. He went a 
piece with me. I am mistaken (for, I mistake). I am 
done (for, I have done). In doing of which (for, in do- 
ing which). In the doing which (for, in the doing of 
which) . 

You donH ought to have it. I did not tell nobody. 
My father says as how he will come. This is the best 
of the two. The book is almost wore out. How many 
leaves is there ? I have got no appetite to eat nothing. 
If you come within half a mile of my house, stop (come) 
and see me. He will not be satisfied, let him have never 
so much. He will not do it, if he has never so good an 
5* 



54 SYNTAX. 

opportunity. Xenophon says express, I can never think 
so mean of him. Have you any long women's gloves to 
sell ? Have you any black men's gloves to sell ? What 
does I do, but goes and demands the money. Will you 
smoke it ? Will you ride it, or foot it 9 I had rather 
(for / would or should rather). Every one should take 
care of their health. On either side one, and Jesus in 
the midst. Every tree is known by his fruit. Men look 
with an evil eye upon the good that is in others ; and 
think, that their reputation obscures them ; and that their 
commendable qualities do stand in their light : and there- 
fore they do what they can to cast a cloud over them, 
that the bright shining of their virtues may not obscure 
them. 

VULGARISMS. 

I telVd him. I see'd him. I know'd him. I ax'd 
him. I gin it to him. He catch' *d cold. I will stay 
to hum. I haint got no money. Good nighty. The 
marchant has failed. His goods is tached. Which had 
you druther do ? I want a spumfle of cream. It is jes 
sich a one. Whose housen are them ? Bring me tother. 
You no need go. He is spry. This is bad weather to 
kitch cold. Have you got any hose to hum ? Nary 
one now. My close are bran new. My tire is spandy 
clean. I heft a stun at him. Less see. Lemme go. 
The basin is chock full. Sit the pawnger on the table. 
He came this arternoon. Thinks says I. Well says I. 
I don't like this 'ere, nor that 'are nuther. Take a cheer 
and set down. What jew secy ? These are tough times. 
Don't tech that. You darsent. He sot on the fust seat. 
There are four stacks of chimblys in them housen. He 
says, it is hizzen ; she says, it is hern ; you say, it is 
yourn ; they all say, it is theirn ; but I say, it is oum. 



VULGARISMS. 55 

Izzentit true ? It is, forzino. Twazzent me. Maint 
I go ? This 'ere izzent hizzen. I likes taters baked ; 
some likes urn tiled. He bust out a lafjin, cause I call- 
ed taters sass ; and said, I hadent ought to ; but sich a 
feller needent think to lam me nothing. 

AMERICAN VULGARISMS, IMPROPRIETIES, &C 

Selected from Mr. John Pickering's work. 

•Admire, for like much ; as, I should admire to go. 

•Allot upon, for expect or desire ; as, I allot upon it. 

•AnH, for am not, is not, and are not. 

Jlttackted, or •Attack J ded, for attacked. 

•Awful, for surprising ; as, ati/uZ conduct. 

Calculate, for expect, suppose, think ; as, / calculate to 
leave town tomorrow. 

CanH, for cannot. 

Chore, for c/mr ; as, he did all the chores. 

Chunk, or Junk, for a Zarge 6iJ or piece of any thing. 

Chunky, or Chunked, for //iicfc in stature ; as, he is a 
short, chunky or chunked man. 

Clever, in the sense of simple, well-meaning, but want- 
ing* capacity ; as, he is a clever man ; she is a clever 
woman. The true meaning of the word is directly the 
reverse of this. It means skilled or talented. So that 
it is good English, and very common in England to 
say, " he is a clever fellow, but a very great knave." 

Cleverly, for well or very well ; as, how do you do ? I 
am cleverly. 

Convene, for accommodate ; as, this convenes him. 

Curious, for excellent ; as, this is curious weather. 

Gawky, for awkward. 

Grand, for good or excellent ; as, this is grand news. 

Guess, for imagine, suppose, believe, think, fancy. The 



56 SYNTAX. 

great abuse of this word is in guessing about things 
which are well known ; as, I guess it rains ; I guess 
the wind blows ; I guess it is colder than it was yes- 
terday. 

Gumption, for understanding or capacity ; as, he has not 
much gumption. 

Heft, for weight of any thing ; as, the heft of the load is 
on the off side. To heft, to lift any thing ; and also, 
to throw. 

Hither and yon, for here and there. 

Housen, for houses. 

Improved, for employed ; as, he improved the house as a 
tavern. 

Jag, for a small load. 

Jounce, for jolt or shake. 

Kelter, or Kilter, for good condition ; as, this cart is out 
of kilter. 

Lay, for price ; as, I bought them at a good lay. 

Likely, for sensible or intelligent ; as, she is very likely. 

Lot, for a great number ; as, I have a whole lot of them. 

Mighty, for very ; as he is a mighty fine man. 

Musical, for humorous ; as, he is very musical. 

Peak, or Pee/c, for peep ; as he peaked into the door. 

Poorly, for tZZ ; as, she is very poorly. 

Quackle, for choke or suffocate. 

Reckon, for imagine, suppose, believe, think ; as, I reefc- 
on I shall go ; I reckon it is so. It is said, that the 
Southern people reckon, and the Northern people guess. 

Roil, or Rile, for stir up or vex ; as, I riled him up. 

Roily, or UiZy, for turbid. 

Rungs, for rounds of a ladder or chair. 

$a£, for set ; as, / sa£ out yesterday morning. 

Sauce, for vegetables, and sometimes, for impertinence. 

Shaver, for a smaZZ 6oj/ ; as, he is a little shaver ; and 
also, for a usurer. 



PROSODY, 57 

Shote, for a pig ; it is also applied to a man ; as, he is a 
poor shote. 

Skamp, for a mean, low fellow. 

Slam, for shut ; as, he slams to the door. 

Slang-whanger, for a noisy talker, a dealer in slang. 

Slat, for to throw with violence ; as, he slat it on the 
floor. 

Slippery, for untrustiness ; as, he is a slippery fellow. 

Slosh, or Slush, for mud and mire, or snoic-water. 

Sloshy, or Slushy, descriptive of the same, used adjec- 
tively. 

Span, for a pair ; as, a span of horses. 

SpeZZ, for season ; as, a long spell of weather. 

Squat, for squeeze or 6rtme ; as, he sgwaf his finger. 

Squiggle, or Squirm, for £0 wove a6ow^ Zi&e an eeZ. 

Suant, for even or regular ; as, spread it out sitanf. 

Sioapt, or Swopt, for exchanged ; as, they stoops horses. 

Tofe, for carry ; as, he toted him on his back. 

Stump, for challenge or tfe/j/ ; as I sJwmp you to do it. 

Ugly, for ill-tempered or 6aeZ; as, he is an ugly fellow. 

Unbeknown, for unknown ; as, he did it unbeknown to 
me. 

Whop, for capsized ; as, it w/10/^ over ; also, to repre- 
sent the manner of falling ; as, it fell down whop. 

Whopper, for any thing uncommonly large; as, I caught 
a whopper ; also, for a great lie ; as, he told a whopper. 



PROSODY. 



132. Prosody is derived from the Greek word, nqoa- 
wdla, which is compounded of Tiyog, to, for, by, and w5?J, 
an ode or song ; and it embraces all the rules relating to 
poetry or versification. 



58 PROSODY. 

133. Prosody treats of accent, quantity, pause, and 

tone ; of punctuation, capital letters, and versification. 

Note. These, perhaps, with the exception of versification, have 
been sufficiently explained in the C. S. Grammar. 



VERSIFICATION. 

134. Versification teaches how to compose in verse 
according to the rules of metrical composition. 

135. Verse comes from u verto," to turn, and is so 
called, because, when one line is ended, we turn back to 
begin another. 

SCANNING. 

136. Scanning is the division of verses into the feet 
of which they are composed. All poetic feet consist of 
two or three syllables. The breve ( w ) is used to denote 
a syllable short in quantity, and the hyphen (_), one long 
in quantity. 

POETIC FEET. 



Dissyllable. 

A Trochee, __ w , 
An Iambus, w __, 

A spondee, , 

A Pyrrick, ; w w . 



Trisyllable. 
A Dactyle, _ w w , 

An Amphibrach, w w , 

An Anapaest, w w , 

A Tribrach, w w w . 



137. The feet most commonly used in English, are 
the Trochee, the Iambus, and the Jlnapcest. For the 
sake of variety, and in order to adapt the expression to 
the sentiment, the other kinds of feet are occasionally in- 
troduced ; but seldom, if ever, is a whole piece of po- 
etry composed entirely of them. 



VERSIFICATION. 59 

A metrical scale or gamut, for the practice of learn- 
ers, which may be so varied as to represent all the dif- 
ferent kinds of feet and measure. 

TROCHEE. 

Tumty | tumty | tumty | turn, 
Tumty | tumty | tumty | turn, 
Tumty | tumty | tumty | turn, 
Tumty | tumty | tumty | turn. 

IAMBUS. 

Titum | titum | titum | titum, 
Titum | titum | titiim ; 
Titum | titum | titum | titum, 
Titiim | titiim | titum. 

ANAP.EST. 

Tititum | tititum | tititum | tititum, 
Tititum | tititum | tititum ; 
Tititum | tititum | tititum | tititum, 
Tititiim | tititum | tititiim. 

EXAMPLE OF THE TROCHEE. 

" Restless | mortals | toil for | nought ; 
Bliss in | vain from | earth is | sought ; 
Bliss, a | native | of the | sky, 
Never | wanders. | Mortals, | try ; 
There yoii | cannot | seek in | vain ; 
For to | seek her | is to I gain." 

EXAMPLE OF THE IAMBUS. 

" Let not | this weak, | iinknow | ing hand, 
Presume | thy bolts | to throw ; 
And deal | damnaj tion round | the land, 
On each | I judge | thy foe. 
If 1 | am right, | thy grace | impart, 
Still in | the right | to stay; 



60 PROSODY. 

If 1 1 am wrong, j oh ! teach | my heart 
To find | that bet | ter way ! " 

Pope. 

EXAMPLE OF THE ANAP.EST. 

" At the close | of the day, | when the ham | let is still, 
*And mor | tals the sweets | of forget | fulness prove, 
*When nought | but the tor | rent is heard | on the hill, 
# And nought | but the night | ingale's song | in the grove : 
# 'T was thus | by the cave | of a moun | tain afar, 

While his harp | rung sympho | nious, a her | mit began, 
# N6 more | with himself | or with na | ture at war, 
*He thought | as a sage, | though he felt | as a man." 

Beattie. 

Note. The first foot in the lines marked thus *, is Iambic. 

EXAMPLES OF VARIOUS KINDS OF FEET. 

" Poor lit | tie, pret | ty, flut | tering thing ! 
Must we | no Ion | ger live | together ? 
And dost | thou prune | thy trem | bling wing, 
To take | thy flight | thou know'st | not whither ? 

" Thy hu | morous vein, | thy pleas | ing folljf, 
Lies all | neglect \ ed, all | forgot, 
And pen | sive, wa | vering, mel | ancholy, 
Thou dread'st | and hop'st | thou know'st | not what." 

Adrian's Address to his Soul. 

3. 
"No, no | 't is decreed, 
The trait | ress shall bleed ; 
No fear | shall alarm, 
No pi | ty disarm ; 
In my rage | shall be seen 
The revenge | of a queen." 



TERSIFICATION. 61 

4. 

c< Since con|jugal passion 

Is come I into fashion, 
And mar | riage so blest | on the throne is, 

Like Ve | nus I '11 shine, 

Be fond | and be fine, 
And Sir Trus | ty shall be | mf Adonis." 

5. 

" Wise fool! | with pleas | ures too J refined | to please, 
With too | much spir | it to | be e'er | at ease, 
With too | much quick | ness ev | er to | be taught, 
With too | much think |ing to | have com| mon thought." 

Pope. 
6. 
M Though deep,) yet clear; | though gen | tie, yet | not dull; 
Strong with | out rage; | without | o'erflow | ing full." 

Denham. 
7. 
" A ty | rant to | the wife | his heart | approves, 
A reb | el to | the ve | ry king | he loves. " 

8. 
11 All peo | pie that | on earth | do dwell, 
Sing to | the Lord | with cheer | ful voice, 
Him serve | with fear, | his praise | forth tell, 
Come ye | before | him and | rejoice." 

Hundredth Psalm. 
9. 

ct And ma | ny an am | orous, ma | ny a hu | morous lay, 
Which ma | ny a bard | had chant | ed ma | ny a day." 

10. 
(t Murmuring, | and with | him fled [ the shades | of night." 

11. 
" O'er many | a frozen, | many | a fier | y Alp." 
6 



62 PROSODY. 

12. 
" Innu [ merable ] before | th' Almight | y's throne." 

13. 
" See the | bold youth | strain up | the threat | 'ning steep." 

14. 
" That on | weak wings | from far | pursues | your flight." 

Heroic measure, in its simplest form, consists of five 
Iambuses ; but it admits of other feet, and is capable of 
many varieties, as the following example will show. 

15. 

" Of man's | first dis | obe | dience, and | the fruit 
Of that | forbid | den tree, | whose mor | tal taste 
Brought death | into | the world | and all | our woe, 
With loss | of E | den, till | one great | er man 
Restore f us, and | regain | the bliss | ful seat, 
Sing, heaven | ly Muse; | that on | the se | cret top 
Of Ho | reb or | of Si | nai didst | inspire 
That Shep | herd, who | first taught | the chos | en seed, 
In the | begin | ning how | the heavens | and earth 
Rose out | of cha | 6s : Or | if Si | on Hill 
Delight | thee more | and Si | loa's brook | that flowed 
Fast by | the or | acle | of God; | I thence 
Invoke | thy aid | to my | adven | t'rous song, 
That with | no mid j die flight | intends | to soar 
Above | th' Ao | nion mount, | while it | pursues 
Things un | attempt | ed yet | in prose [ or rhyme." 

Milton. 
Note. The feet marked thus, J~^ , may be considered as one 

syllable. 

An Alexandrine line, consisting of six Iambuses, is 
sometimes introduced into heroic measure. * 

16. 
"The seas | shall waste, | the skies | in smoke | decay, 
Rocks fall | to dust, | and moun | tains melt | away; 



VERSIFICATION. 63 

But fixed I his word, | his sav | ing power | remains : 
Thy realm | for ev \ er lasts, \ thy men \ Messl I ah reigns," 

RULES FOR DETERMINING THE QUANTITY OF 
SYLLABLES. 

By quantity is meant that space of time, whether long 
or short, in which any syllable is pronounced ; which, in 
English verse, is determined almost entirely by the ac- 
cent. 

Rule 1. A syllable terminated by a single conso- 
nant, and on which there lies neither accent nor empha- 
sis, is generally short ; as, met, let, not, got, cup, sup, 
can, &c. 

Rule 2. If a syllable, naturally short, be accented 
in the ordinary way of pronunciation, or the sense require 
the emphasis to be laid on it, it becomes long in quan- 
tity; as, How can you serve me so ! 

Rule 3. A syllable ending with two or more con- 
sonants, is naturally long ; as, self, strength, health, &c. 
But this is often overruled by accent. 

Rule 4. All diphthongs are naturally long. But, in 
English verse, they are often short, especially if they 
come immediately before or after the accented or em- 
phatic word. 

Rule 5. That which principally fixes and deter- 
mines the quantity of syllables, is the accent or the em- 
phasis, in the common way of pronunciation, as used by 
the best masters of the English language. Wherever the 
accent or emphasis falls, that syllable (be its natural quan- 
tity what it may) is in that place considered as long ; and 
those syllables, which have neither accent nor emphasis, 
are considered as short. 



64 PROSODY. 

POETIC PAUSES. 

138. There is, and there should be, at the end of 
each line, a poetic pause of sufficient length to make it 
perceptible to the ear, whether there be a grammatical 
pause or not. 

139. The pauses which divide the line into equal or 
unequal parts, are called ccesural pauses ; that, at the 
end of the line, the final or closing pause. The caesura, 
in heroic verse, commonly takes place after the fourth, 
fifth, or sixth syllable, but it may occur in any part of 
the line. 

EXAMPLES OF THE CAESURA. 

" The silver eel || in shining volumes rolled, 
The yellow carp || in scales bedropped with gold." 

" Round broken columns [| clasping ivy twined, 
O'er heaps of ruin || stalked the stately hind." 

" O ! say what stranger cause || yet unexplored, 
Could make a gentle belle || reject a lord ? " 

EXAMPLES OF THE DEMIC^SURA. 

" Glows I while he reads || but trembles | as he writes." 
" Reason | is the card || but passion | is the gale." 
" Rides | in the whirlwind || and directs | the storm." 

KINDS OF METRE. 

140. The kinds of metre are various. Those in most 
general use, for sacred purposes, are the long, short, 
common, hallelujah, and particular metres. 

141. Long metre has eight syllables in each line. 

142. Short metre has eight syllables in the third line, 
and six syllables in each of the other three lines. 

143. Common metre has eight syllables in the first 



SENTENCES. 65 

line, and also in the third, and six syllables in each of the 
other two lines. 

144. Hallelujah metre has six syllables in each of 
the first four lines, and four syllables in each of the last 
four lines ; or eight syllables, when they are united in 
tico lines. 

145. Particular metre, as it is subject to no defina- 
ble rules, cannot be described. 



RHETORIC 



146. Rhetoric is derived from the Greek word, 
QYiTOQzLw, from qi]io)q, a rhetorician, from yaw, to speak ; and 
it signifies a discourse, according to the rules of oratory or 
composition. 

147. The principles of rhetoric are chiefly based on 
those which have been unfolded and explained in the 
other parts of grammar. Nothing more will be attempted, 
here, than to give some further illustration of the princi- 
ples, which apply to this branch of the subject. 

WORDS AND PHRASES. 

Note. For an explanation of ivords and phrases, see C. S. 
Grammar, p. 86. 

SENTENCES. 

148. A simple sentence has but one subject, and one 
attribute ; as, " the master called up John." This is a 
simple sentence, because it has but one subject, u the 
master," and one attribute, " called up John." Here 
"John" is a mere adjunct to the attribute, "called 
up;" both united tell what the master did. 

6* 



66 RHETORIC. 

" Joseph went from Boston to New York." This is 
a simple sentence. " Joseph " is the subject, and 
"went," the attribute. "From Boston to New York " 
are two adjuncts, or appendant phrases, belonging to the 
attribute ; and, being united with it, aid in telling what 
Joseph did. 

" A Frenchman of retired habits, by the name of John 
Emery B. Gripon, about sixty years of age, living in 
Eighth Street, between Catharine and Fitzwater Streets, 
Philadelphia, was found dead in an outbuilding upon his 
premises." This is a simple sentence, having but one 
subject, " a Frenchman," and one attribute, " was found 
dead." All the other words and phrases are mere ad- 
juncts thrown in for the purpose of modifying or explain- 
ing the simple sentence, " A Frenchman was found 
dead." 

149. A compound sentence consists of two or more 
simple sentences united, having more subjects or more 
attributes, than one ; as, " William went to school, but 
Susan remained at home." This is a compound sen- 
tence, because it has two subjects, " William and Susan," 
and two attributes, " went," and " remained." " To 
school," and " at home," are mere adjuncts to the at- 
tributes. It is resolved into simple sentences thus : 
" William went to school." " Susan remained at home." 

" George went to Boston, and bought a book." This 
is a compound sentence, because, though it has but one 
subject, " George," it has two attributes, " went," and 
"bought." It is resolved thus : " George went to Bos- 
ton." " George bought a book." 

" Faith worketh patience ; and patience, experience ; 
and experience, hope." This is a compound sentence, 
because it has three subjects, "faith," "patience," and 
" experience," and one attribute, " worketh." It is re- 



SENTENCES. 67 

solved thus: " Faith worketh patience." " Patience 
worketh experience." "Experience worketh hope." 

" James, who, while here, assisted his father, is now 
absent." This is a compound sentence, having one sub- 
ject, " James," and two attributes, " assisted his father," 
and "is now absent." But here one of the sentences is 
incidental to the other, and may therefore be called sec- 
ondary. Resolved with reference to this fact, they would 
stand thus : Primary sentence : " James is now absent." 
Secondary sentence : " James, while here, assisted his 
father." " While here," is merely an incidental phrase 
in the secondary member of the sentence. 

150. A complex sentence is one which has more sub- 
jects, or more attributes, than one ; but which cannot be 
resolved into simple sentences, without destroying the 
sense; as, "Mary learns faster than Nancy." This 
sentence is complex, and not compound, because, hav- 
ing two subjects, "Mary" and "Nancy," and one at- 
tribute, " learns faster," it cannot be resolved into sim- 
ple sentences, without destroying the sense, except by 
altering the attribute. 

"Washington was greater than Bonaparte." This is a 
complex sentence, because the two subjects, "Washing- 
ton" and "Bonaparte," cannot be made agents to the 
attribute, " was greater," without destroying the sense. 

" More scholars attend the school, than can be conve- 
niently seated." This, like the preceding, is a complex 
sentence, having one subject, " more scholars," and two 
attributes, "attend school," and "can be conveniently 
seated." " Conveniently," is a mere modifier of " can 
be seated." 



68 RHETORIC. 

FURTHER ILLUSTRATION OF SENTENCES. 
Taken chiefly from Bishop Lowtfts Grammar. 

151. In a sentence, the subject and the verb may be 
each of them accompanied with several adjuncts ; as, the 
object, the end, the circumstances of time, manner, and 
the like ; and the subject or verb may be connected with 
some thing, which is connected with some other ; and so 
on. 

152. If the several adjuncts affect the subject or the 
verb in a different manner, they are only so many imper- 
fect phrases ; and the sentence is simple. 

153. If the several adjuncts affect the subject or the 
verb in the same manner, the sentence is compound. 

154. For, if there are several subjects belonging in 
the same manner to one verb, or several verbs belonging 
in the same manner to one subject, the subjects and verbs 
are still to be accounted equal in number ; for every verb 
must have its subject, and every subject its verb ; and 
every one of the subjects or verbs will make a simple 
sentence. 

EXAMPLES. 

1. " The passion for praise produces excellent effects 
in women of sense." In this sentence, " passion " is 
the subject, and " produces " is the verb ; each of which 
is accompanied and connected with its adjuncts. The 
subject is not passion in general, but a particular passion, 
determined by its adjunct, u for praise." The verb is, 
also, immediately connected with its object, " excellent 
effects," which is connected with " women," the subject 
in which these effects are produced ; which again is con- 
nected with its adjunct of specification ; for it is not 
meant of women in general, but of women " of sense" 



SENTENCES. 69 

only. It is to be observed, also, that the verb is con- 
nected with each of these several adjuncts in a different 
manner; namely, with ''effects," as the object; with 
"women," as the subject of them; with "sense," as 
the quality or characteristic of those women. The ad- 
juncts, therefore, are only so many imperfect phrases ; 
and the sentence is simple. 

2. " The passion for praise, ichich is so very vehement 
in the fair sex, produces excellent effects in women of 
sense." Here a new verb is introduced, accompanied 
with adjuncts of its own ; and the subject is repeated by 
the relative pronoun, which. It now becomes a com- 
pound sentence, made up of two simple sentences, one 
of which is inserted in the middle of the other, and is 
called an incidental sentence. 

3. " How many instances have we (in the fair sex) 
of chastity, fidelity, devotion ! How many ladies distin- 
guish themselves by the education of their children, care 
of their families, and love of their husbands ; which are 
the great qualities and achievements of womankind ; as 
the making of war, the carrying on of traffic, the admin- 
istration of justice, are those by which men grow famous 
and get themselves a name." 

In the first of these two sentences, the adjuncts, 
" chastity," "fidelity," " devotion," are connected with 
the verb by the word, "instances," in the same manner, 
and in effect make so many distinct sentences : " how 
many instances have we of chastity ! how many instances 
have we of fidelity ! how many instances have we of de- 
votion ! " The same may be said of the adjuncts, " ed- 
ucation of their children," &c, in the former part of the 
next sentence ; as likewise of the several subjects, " the 
making of war," &c, in the latter part, which have in 
effect each their verb ; for each of these is an " achieve- 
ment" by which men " grow famous." 



70 RHETORIC. 

USE OF CONNECTIVES IN FORMING SENTENCES. 

155. The connective parts of sentences are the most 
important of all, and require the greatest care and atten- 
tion ; for it is by these chiefly, that the train of thought, 
the course of reasoning, and the whole progress of the 
mind, in continued discourse of all kinds, is laid open; 
and on the right use of these, the perspicuity, which is 
the first and greatest beauty of style, principally depends. 

156. There are four parts of speech which are fre- 
quently used as connectives, the Conjunction, Preposi- 
tion, Relative Pronoun, and Adverb. 

EXAMPLES OF THE CONJUNCTION. 

u If men are by nature social, it is their interest to be 
just, though it were not so ordained by the laws of their 
country." Here are three sentences. (1.) Men are by 
nature social. (2.) It is man's interest to be just. (3.) 
It is not ordained by the laws of every country, that men 
should be just. The first two of these sentences are 
made one by the conjunction, if; these are made one 
with the third sentence, by the conjunction, though ; and 
these three, thus united, make a compound sentence. 

EXAMPLES OF THE PREPOSITION. 

" He went with his family from Cambridge to Boston 
in a carriage drawn by four horses." Here are no less 
than five prepositions in the same simple sentence, used 
as connectives, as well as to show the relation ; no one 
of which can be omitted or displaced, without injuring 
the sense. 

EXAMPLES OF THE RELATIVE PRONOUN. 

tC Blessed is the man, who feareth the Lord." " He 
is a fop, who is proud of fine clothes." u Happy is the 



KINDS OF STYLE. 71 

man, who has an honest heart." Each of these sentences 
is compound ; and the relative, who, in each instance, 
connects its own member of the sentence with the pre- 
ceding. 

EXAMPLES OF THE ADVERB. 

44 Strength and weapons can never avail, where con- 
duct and courage are wanting." " The relative is the 
nominative to the verb, when no nominative comes be- 
tween it and the verb." " We should desire the happi- 
ness of all men, even of our enemies." " If we acquire 
a few new ideas every day, however small the number, 
our stock of knowledge will be increased." " The soul 
must be immortal ; else, whence this longing after immor- 
tality ? " In these instances, where, when, even, how- 
ever, else, are connectives, and unite their own members 
of the sentence with the preceding. 

Note. For figures of speech, and method of forming a dis- 
course, see C. S. Grammar. 

KINDS OF STYLE. 

157. The kinds of style are various. Some of the 
principal of these have already been described in the 
work mentioned above. I shall here only give examples 
of each in the order in which they there occur. 

158. The idiomatic style is a simple, easy, artless, 
and flowing style, easily written, and easily understood. 

EXAMPLE 1. 

54 A bee amongst the flowers in spring, is one of the 
most cheerful objects that can be looked upon. Its life 
appears to be all enjoyment : so busy and so pleased : 
yet it is only a specimen of insect life, with which, by 



72 RHETORIC. 

reason of the animal being half domesticated, we happen 
to be better acquainted than we are with that of others. 
The whole winged insect tribe, it is probable, are equally 
intent upon their proper employments, and under every 
variety of constitution gratified, and perhaps equally grat- 
ified, by the offices which the Author of their nature has 
assigned to them. 

" But the atmosphere is not the only scene of their 
enjoyments. Plants are covered with little insects, greed- 
ily sucking their juices, and constantly, as it should seem, 
in the act of sucking. It cannot be doubted but that this 
is a state of gratification. What else should fix them 
so closely to the operation, and so long ? Other species 
are running about, with an alacrity in their motions, 
which carries with it every mark of pleasure. Large 
patches of ground are sometimes half covered with these 
brisk and sprightly natures. 

"If we look to what the waters produce, shoals of the 
fry of fish frequent the margins of rivers, of lakes, and 
of the sea itself. These are so happy, that they know 
not what to do with themselves. Their attitudes, their 
vivacity, their leaps out of the water, their frolics in it, 
all conduce to show their excess of spirits, and are sim- 
ply the effects of that excess." — Paley. 

EXAMPLE 2. 

" I was this morning awakened by a sudden shake of 
the house ; and, as soon as I had gotten a little out of 
my consternation, I felt another, which was followed by 
two or three repetitions of the same convulsion. I got 
up as fast as possible, girt on my rapier, and snatched up 
my hat, when my landlady came up to me, and told me, 
that the gentlewoman of the next house begged me to 
step thither, for that a lodger she had taken in was run 



KINDS OF STYLE. 73 

mad, and she desired my advice, as indeed every body 
in the whole lane does upon important occasions. I am 
not like some artists, saucy because I can be beneficial, 
but went immediately. Our neighbor told us, she had 
the day before let her second floor to a very genteel 
youngish man, who told her, he kept extraordinary good 
hours, and was generally at home most part of the morn- 
ing and evening at study ; but that this morning he had 
for an hour together made this extravagant noise, which 
we then heard. I went up stairs with my hand upon 
the hilt of my rapier, and approached this new lodger's 
door. I looked in at the key-hole, and there I saw a 
well-made man look with great attention on a book, and 
on a sudden jump into the air so high, that his head al- 
most touched the ceiling. He came down safe on his 
right foot, and again flew up, alighting on his left ; then 
looked again at the book, and holding out his right leg, 
put it into such quivering motion, that I thought he would 
have shaken it off. He used the left after the same man- 
ner, when, on a sudden, to my great surprise, he stooped 
himself incredibly low, and turned gently on his toes. 
After this circular motion, he continued bent in that 
humble posture for some time, looking on his book. 
After this, he recovered himself, with a sudden spring, 
and flew round the room in all the violence and disorder 
imaginable, until he made a full pause for want of breath. 
In this interim, my women asked what I thought. I 
w 7 hispered, that I thought this learned person an enthu- 
siast, who possibly had his first education in the peripa- 
tetic way, w T hich was established by a sect of philoso- 
phers who always studied when walking. But observing 
him much out of breath, I thought it the best time to 
master him if he were disorderly, and knocked at the 
door. I was surprised to find him open it, and say with 
7 



74 RHETORIC. 

great civility and good mien, that he hoped he had not 
disturbed us. I believed him in a lucid interval, and de- 
sired he would please to let me see his book. He did 
so, smiling. I could not make any thing of it, and there- 
fore asked in what language it was written. He said, it 
was one he studied with great application ; but it was his 
profession to teach it, and he could not communicate his 
knowledge without a consideration. I answered, that I 
hoped he would hereafter keep his thoughts to himself, 
for his meditations this morning had cost me three coffee- 
dishes, and a clean pipe. He seemed concerned at that, 
and told me he was a dancing-master, and had been 
reading a dance or two before he went out, which had 
been written by one who taught at an academy in France. 
He observed me at a stand, and w T ent on to inform me, 
that now articulate motions, as well as sounds, were ex- 
pressed by proper characters ; and that there is nothing 
so common, as to communicate a dance by a letter. I 
besought him hereafter to meditate in a ground room, for 
that otherwise it would be impossible for an artist of any 
other kind to live near him ; and that I was sure several 
of his thoughts this morning would have shaken my spec- 
tacles off my nose, had I been myself at study." 

Addison. 
159. The labored style is opposed to the idiomatic, 
because it is a studied, artificial, and inverted style, and 
requires close attention and effort to understand it. 

EXAMPLE 1. 

" As we can, in no instance, perceive the link, by 
which two successive events are connected, so as to de- 
duce, by reasoning a priori, the one from the other, as 
a consequence or effect, it follows that, when we see an 
event take place, which has been preceded by a combi- 



KINDS OF STYLE. 75 

nation of different circumstances, it is impossible for hu- 
man sagacity to ascertain, whether the effect is connected 
with all the circumstances, or only with a part of them ; 
and, on the latter supposition, which of the circumstan- 
ces is essential to the result, and which are merely acci- 
dental accessories or concomitants. The only way, in 
such a case, of coming at the truth, is to repeat over the 
experiment again and again, leaving out all the different 
circumstances successively, and observing with what par- 
ticular combinations of them the effect is conjoined. 

" When, by thus comparing a number of cases, agree- 
ing in some circumstances, but differing in others, and all 
attended with the same result, a philosopher connects, as 
a general law of nature, the event with its physical cause, 
he is said to proceed according to the method of induc- 
tion." — Stewart. 

EXAMPLE 2. 

u The style of Burke is undoubtedly one of the most 
splendid forms, in which the English language has ever 
been exhibited. It displays the happy and difficult union 
of all the richness and magnificence that good taste ad- 
mits, with a perfectly easy construction. In Burke, we 
see the manly movement of a well-bred gentleman ; in 
Johnson, an equally profound and vigorous thinker, the 
measured march of a grenadier. We forgive the great 
moralist his stiff and cumbrous phrases, in return for the 
rich stores of thought and poetry which they conceal ; 
but we admire in Burke, as in a fine, antique statue, the 
grace with which the large, flowing robe adapts itself to 
the majestic dignity of the person. But, with all his 
literary excellence, the peculiar merits of this great man 
were, perhaps, the faculty of profound and philosophical 
thought, and the moral courage which led him to disre- 



76 RHETORIC, 

gard personal inconvenience in the expression of his sen- 
timents. Deep thought is the informing soul, that every- 
where sustains and inspires the imposing grandeur of his 
eloquence. Even in the c Essay on the Sublime and 
Beautiful,' the only work of pure literature which he at- 
tempted, that is, the only one which was not an imme- 
diate expression of his views on public affairs, there is 
still the same richness of thought, the same basis of c di- 
vine philosophy,' to support the harmonious superstruc- 
ture of the language. And the moral courage which 
formed so remarkable a feature in his character, contrib- 
uted not less essentially to his literary success. It seems 
to be a law of nature, that the highest degree of elo- 
quence demands the union of the noblest qualities of 
character as well as intellect. To think is the highest 
exercise of the mind ; to say what you think, the noblest 
effort of moral courage ; and both these things are re- 
quired for a really powerful writer. Eloquence without 
thoughts is a mere parade of words ; and no man can 
express with spirit and vigor any thoughts but his own. 
This was the secret of the eloquence of Rousseau, which 
is not without a certain analogy in its forms to that of 
Burke." — A. H, Everett. 

160. The concise style is short, pithy, bold, and sen- 
tentious, in which the thoughts are expressed with the 
utmost precision. 

EXAMPLE 1. 

"You have still an honorable part to act. The affec- 
tions of your subjects may still be recovered. But, be- 
fore you subdue their hearts, you must gain a noble vic- 
tory over your own. Discard those little personal re- 
sentments, which have too long directed your public 
conduct. 



KINDS OF STYLE. 77 

" Without consulting your minister, call together your 
whole council. Let it appear to the public, that you can 
determine and act for yourself. Come forward to your 
people. Lay aside the wretched formalities of a king, 
and speak to your subjects with the spirit of a man, and 
in the language of a gentleman. Tell them you have 
been fatally deceived. The acknowledgment will be no 
disgrace, but rather an honor, to your understanding. 
Tell them you are determined to remove every cause of 
complaint against your government ; that you will give 
your confidence to no man, who does not possess the 
confidence of your subjects. They will then do justice 
to their representatives and to themselves." — Junius. 

EXAMPLE 2. 

" At Athens the laws did not constantly interfere with 
the tastes of the people. The children w T ere not taken 
from their parents by that universal step-mother, the 
state. They were not starved into thieves, or tortured 
into bullies ; there was no established table at which 
every one must dine, no established style in w T hich every 
one must converse. An Athenian might eat whatever 
he could afford to buy, and talk as long as he could find 
people to listen. The government did not tell the peo- 
ple what opinions they were to hold, or what songs they 
were to sing. Freedom produced excellence. Thus 
philosophy took its origin. Thus were produced those 
models of poetry, of oratory, and of the arts, which 
scarcely fall short of the standard of ideal excellence. 
Nothing is more conducive to happiness, than the free 
exercise of the mind, in pursuits congenial to it. This 
happiness, assuredly, was enjoyed far more at Athens 
than at Sparta. The Athenians are acknowledged even 

by their enemies to have been distinguished, in private, 

7 * 



78 RHETORIC. 

by their courteous and amiable demeanor. Their lev- 
ity, at least, was better than Spartan sullenness, and their 
impertinence, than Spartan insolence. Even in courage, 
it may be questioned whether they were inferior to the 
Lacedaemonians. # # * The infantry of Athens was cer- 
tainly not equal to that of Lacedaemon ; but this seems to 
have been caused merely by want of practice : the attention 
of the Athenians was diverted from the discipline of the 
phalanx to that of the trireme. The Lacedaemonians, in 
spite of all their boasted valor, w r ere, from the same 
cause, timid and disorderly in naval action." 

Macaulay. 
161. The diffuse style is opposed to the concise, be- 
cause the sentences are long and verbose, and contain 
many and varied illustrations. 

EXAMPLE 1. 

" Happy that man, who, unembarrassed by vulgar 
cares, master of himself, his time, and fortune, spends 
his time in making himself wiser, and his fortune in mak- 
ing others (and therefore himself) happier : who, as the 
will and understanding are the two ennobling faculties of 
the soul, thinks himself not complete, till his understand- 
ing be beautified with the valuable furniture of knowledge, 
as w T ell as his will enriched with every virtue ; who has 
furnished himself with all the advantages to relish soli- 
tude, and enliven conversation ; when serious, not sullen ; 
and when cheerful, not indiscreetly gay ; his ambition, 
not to be admired for a false glare of greatness, but to be 
beloved for the gentle and sober lustre of his wisdom and 
goodness. The greatest minister of state has not more 
business to do in a public capacity, than he, and indeed 
every man else, may find in the retired and still scenes 
of life. Even in his private walks, every thing that is 



KINDS OF STYLE. 79 

visible convinceth him there is present a Being invisible. 
Aided by natural philosophy, he reads plain, legible 
traces of the Divinity in every thing he meets : he sees 
the Deity in every tree, as well as Moses did in the 
burning bush, though not in so glaring a manner : and 
when he sees him, he adores him with the tribute of a 
grateful heart." — Seed. 

EXAMPLE 2. 

" Charles then rose from his seat ; leaning on the shoul- 
der of the Prince of Orange, because he was unable to 
stand without support, he addressed himself to the au- 
dience ; and, from a paper which he held in his hand, in 
order to assist his memory, he recounted, with dignity, 
but without ostentation, all the great things which he had 
undertaken and performed, since the commencement of 
his administration. He observed, that from the seven- 
teenth year of his age, he had dedicated all his thoughts 
and attention to public objects, reserving no portion of 
his time for the indulgence of his ease, and very little for 
the enjoyment of private pleasure ; that, either in a pa- 
cific or hostile manner, he had visited Germany nine 
times, Spain six times, France four times, Italy seven 
times, the Low Countries ten times, England twice, Af- 
rica as often, and had made eleven voyages by sea ; that 
while his health permitted him to discharge his duty, and 
the vigor of his constitution was equal, in any degree, to 
the arduous office of governing dominions so extensive, 
he had never shunned labor, nor repined under fatigue ; 
that now, when his health was broken, and his vigor ex- 
hausted by the rage of an incurable distemper, his grow- 
ing infirmities admonished him to retire ; nor was he so 
fond of reigning, as to retain the sceptre in an impotent 
hand, which was no longer able to protect his subjects, 



80 EHETOR1C. 

or to render them happy; that instead of a sovereign 
worn out with diseases, and scarcely half alive, he gave 
them one in the prime of life, accustomed already to gov- 
ern, and who added to the vigor of youth all the attention 
and sagacity of maturer years ; that if, during the course 
of a long administration, he had committed any material 
error in government, or if, under the pressure of so many 
and great affairs, and amidst the attention which he had 
been obliged to give to them, he had either neglected or 
injured any of his subjects, he now implored their for- 
giveness ; that, for his part, he should ever retain a grate- 
ful sense of their fidelity and attachment, and would carry 
the remembrance of it along with him to the place of his 
retreat, as his sweetest consolation, as well^as the best 
reward for all his services ; and, in his last prayers to 
Almighty God, would pour forth his ardent wishes for 
their welfare." — Dr. Robertson. 

162. The forcible style is plain, direct, strong, and 
convincing, and implies good intellectual powers, and a 
well disciplined mind. 

EXAMPLE 1. 

" Eloquence, it is often said, is the peculiar attribute 
of man. But more than this is true. It belongs to hu- 
manity. The human soul is eloquent, whenever and 
wherever it has a full development. Its signatures are 
divine ; and where they are seen, they cannot fail to 
leave their impression. 

" It is one of the maxims with which we have no pa- 
tience, that the English character is not fitted for an ear- 
nest delivery ; that eloquence will not flourish on this 
rock ; that there is something in our temperament or 
taste that forbids it. The English mind not eloquent! 
We might as well say, that it is possessed of no strong 



KINDS OF STYLE. 



81 



feelings, or noble thoughts. For if it has these, and has 
them, in fact, in uncommon strength, has it not a lan- 
guage, a voice, a countenance, a free and unfettered arm, 
1 the weapon of the orator,' to express them." * * * 

u Go to the exchange, the market, the public street, 
the municipal meeting, and you will see, that the men, 
in whose veins English blood is flowing, can be ardent 
and earnest, and can use action, though they do not know 
it ; and that is the right action. Go up to the greater 
occasions of life, to the crowded and grave assembly, 
and our Burke, and Sheridan, and Chatham, and our 
own Ames, and Hamilton, and Emmet, and the names 
of the living among us, that rise to our thoughts, are suf- 
ficient to wipe away the stigma that we are so willing to 
fasten upon ourselves ; sufficient to show, that our court- 
room and our debating-hall are not always tedious, and 
that our pulpit is not always dull. 

" We look for future orators in this land, whose words 
of might shall shake its wide and utmost borders, shall 
resound from the Atlantic to the Pacific seas ; and whose 
renown shall be the heritage of distant generations. We 
trust that a voice is to arise in this western world which 
shall echo to the glorious eloquence of ancient times." 

N. A. Review. 



example 2. 

" When public bodies are to be addressed on momen- 
tous occasions, when great interests are at stake, and 
strong passions excited, nothing is valuable in speech, 
further than it is connected with high intellectual and 
moral endowments. Clearness, force, and earnestness 
are the qualities which produce conviction. True elo- 
quence, indeed, does not consist in speech. It cannot 
be brought from far. Labor and learning may toil for it, 



82 RHETORIC. 

but they will toil in vain. Words and phrases may be 
marshalled in every way, but they cannot compass it. 
It must exist in the man, in the subject, and in the occa- 
sion. Affected passion, intense expression, the pomp of 
declamation, all may aspire after it, — they cannot reach 
it. It comes, if it come at all, like the outbreaking of a 
mountain from the earth, or the bursting forth of volcanic 
fires, with spontaneous, original, native force. The 
graces taught in the schools, the costly ornaments, and 
studied contrivances of speech, shock and disgust men, 
when their own lives, and the fate of their wives, their 
children, and their country, hang on the decision of the 
hour. Then words have lost their power, rhetoric is 
vain, and all elaborate oratory is contemptible. Even 
genius itself then feels rebuked, and subdued, as in the 
presence of higher qualities. Then, patriotism is elo- 
quent ; then, self-devotion is eloquent. The clear con- 
ception, outrunning the deductions of logic, the high 
purpose, the firm resolve, the dauntless spirit, speaking 
on the tongue, beaming from the eye, informing every 
feature, and urging the whole man onward, right onward 
to his object, — this, this is eloquence ; or rather it is 
something greater and higher than all eloquence, it is 
action, noble, sublime, godlike action." — Webster. 

163. The vehement style not only implies sound and 
convincing arguments, clearly and forcibly expressed, 
but a greater degree of excitement, and a deeper current 
of feeling than the forcible style. 

EXAMPLE 1. 

" Besides, Sir, we shall not fight our battles alone. 
There is a just God, that presides over the destinies of 
nations, and will raise up friends to fight our battles for 
us. The battle, Sir, is not to the strong alone : it is to 



KINDS OF STYLE. 83 

the vigilant ; the active ; the brave ! Besides, Sir, we 
have no choice. Though we were base enough to desire 
it ; it is now too late to retire from the contest. There 
is no retreat but in submission and slavery ! Our chains 
are forged ! Their clanking may be heard on the plains 
of Boston ! The war is inevitable ; and let it come ! 
I repeat it, Sir ; let it come !! 

"It is in vain to extenuate the matter. Gentlemen 
may cry, peace! peace! but there is no peace. The 
war is actually begun. The next gale that shall sweep 
from the North will bring to our ears the clash of resound- 
ing arms ! Our brethren are already in the field ! Why 
stand we here idle ? What is it that gentlemen wish ? 
What would they have ? Is life so dear ; are chains so 
sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slav- 
ery f Forbid it, Almighty God ! I know not what 
course others may take ; but as for myself give me Lib- 
erty ! or give me Death ! " — Patrick Henry. 

example 2. 

"You speak like a boy, — like a boy, who thinks the 
old, gnarled oak can be twisted as easily as the young 
sapling. Can I forget that I have been branded as an 
outlaw, stigmatized as a traitor, a price set on my head 
as if I had been a wolf, my family treated as the dam and 
cubs of the hill-fox, whom all may torment, vilify, de- 
grade, and insult ; — the very name which came to me 
from a long and noble line of martial ancestors, denounc- 
ed, as if it were a spell to conjure up the devil with ? 

" And they shall find that the name they have dared 
to proscribe, — that the name of MacGregor is a spell to 
raise the wild devil withal. They shall hear of my ven- 
geance, that would scorn to listen to the story of my 
wrongs. The miserable Highland drover, bankrupt, 



84 RHETORIC. 

barefooted, stripped of all, dishonored and hunted down, 
because the avarice of others grasped at more than that 
poor all could pay, shall burst on them in an awful 
change. They that scoffed at the grovelling worm, and 
trod upon him, may cry and howl when they see the 
stoop of the flying and fiery-mouthed dragon." — Scott. 

164. The elevated style, as it relates to the thoughts 
and moral feelings, may be called the sentimental style. 
Here, every sentence has its meaning and its importance ; 
and the whole abounds with sublime and elevated views, 
and with noble and inspiring thoughts. 

EXAMPLE 1. 

cc There are different orders of greatness. Among 
these the first rank is unquestionably due to moral great- 
ness, or magnanimity ; to that sublime energy, by which 
the soul, smitten with the love of virtue, binds itself in- 
dissolubly, for life and for death, to truth and duty ; es- 
pouses as its own the interests of human nature ; scorns 
all meanness and defies all peril ; hears in its own con- 
science a voice louder than threatenings and thunders ; 
withstands all the powers of the universe, which would 
sever it from the cause of freedom, virtue, and religion ; 
reposes an unfaltering trust in God in the darkest hour, 
and is ever ready to be offered up on the altar of its 
country or of mankind." * * * * * " Next to moral, 
comes intellectual greatness, or genius in the highest 
sense of that word ; and by this, we mean that sublime 
capacity of thought, through which the soul, smitten with 
the love of the true and the beautiful, essays to compre- 
hend the universe, soars into the heavens, penetrates the 
earth, penetrates itself, questions the past, anticipates the 
future, traces out the general and all-comprehending laws 
of nature, binds together by innumerable affinities and 



KINDS OF STYLE. 85 

relations all the objects of knowledge, and, not satisfied 
with what is finite, frames to itself ideal excellence, love- 
liness, and grandeur. This is the greatness which be- 
longs to philosophers, inspired poets, and to the master 
spirits in the fine arts, &c." — Channing. 

EXAMPLE 2. 

u In order to discern where man's true honor lies, we 
must look, not to any adventitious circumstances of for- 
tune ; not to any single sparkling quality ; but to the 
whole of what forms a man ; what entitles him, as such, 
to rank high among that class of beings to which he be- 
longs ; in a word, we must look to the mind and the soul. 
A mind superior to fear, to selfish interest and corrup- 
tion ; a mind governed by the principles of uniform rec- 
titude and integrity ; the same in prosperity and adversi- 
ty ; which no bribe can seduce, nor terror overawe ; 
neither by pleasure melted into effeminacy, nor by dis- 
tress sunk into dejection : such is the mind which forms 
the distinction and eminence of man. — One, who in no 
situation of life, is either ashamed or afraid of discharg- 
ing his duty, and acting his proper part with firmness and 
constancy ; true to the God whom he worships, and 
true to the faith in which he professes to believe : full of 
affection to his brethren of mankind ; faithful to his 
friends, generous to his enemies, warm with compassion 
to the unfortunate ; self-denying to little private interests 
and pleasures, but zealous for public interest and happi- 
ness : magnanimous, without being proud ; humble, with- 
out being mean ; just, without being harsh ; simple in 
his manners, but manly in his feelings ; on whose words 
we can entirely rely ; whose countenance never deceives 
us ; whose professions of kindness are the effusions of his 
heart ; one, in fine, whom, independent of any views of 
8 



86 RHETORIC. 

advantage, we would choose for a superior, could trust 
in as a friend, and could love as a brother, — this is the 
man, whom in our heart, above all others, we do, we 
must honor." — Blair. 

165. The dignified style has a certain stateliness, for- 
mality, and parade about it, which are the result of art 
and labor. 

example 1. 

" Right conceptions of the glory of our ancestors, are 
alone to be attained by analyzing their virtues. These 
virtues, indeed, are not seen charactered in breathing 
bronze, or in living marble. Our ancestors have left no 
Corinthian temples on our hills, no Gothic cathedrals on 
our plains, no proud pyramid, no storied obelisk in our 
cities. But mind is there. Sagacious enterprise is there. 
An active, vigorous, intelligent, moral population throng 
our cities, and predominate in our fields ; men, patient of 
labor, submissive to law, respectful to authority, regardful 
of right, faithful to liberty. These are the monuments 
of our ancestors. They stand immutable and immortal, 
in the social, moral, and intellectual condition of their 
descendants. They exist in the spirit, which their pre- 
cepts instilled, and their example implanted." 

JOSIAH QUINCY. 
EXAMPLE 2. 

u In many respects the nations of Christendom collec- 
tively, are becoming somewhat analogous to our own 
Federal Republic. Antiquated distinctions are breaking 
away, and local animosities are subsiding. The common 
people of different countries are knowing each other bet- 
ter, esteeming each other more, and attaching themselves 
to each other by various manifestations of reciprocal 



KINDS OF STYLE. 87 

good will. It is true, every nation has still its separate 
boundaries, and its individual interests ; but the freedom 
of commercial intercourse is allowing those interests to 
adjust themselves to each other, and thus rendering the 
causes of collision of vastly less frequent occurrence. 
Local questions are becoming of less, and general ques- 
tions of greater importance. Thanks be to God, men 
have at last begun to understand the rights, and feel for 
the wrongs, of each other. Mountains interposed do not 
so much make enemies of nations. Let the trumpet of 
alarm be sounded, and its notes are now heard by every 
nation, whether of Europe or America. Let a voice, 
borne on the feeblest breeze, tell that the rights of man 
are in danger, and it floats over valley and mountain, 
across continent and ocean, until it has vibrated on the 
ear of the remotest dweller in Christendom. Let the 
arm of oppression be raised to crush the feeblest nation 
on earth, and there will be heard every where, if not the 
shout of defiance, at least the deep-toned murmur of im- 
placable displeasure. It is the cry of aggrieved, insult- 
ed, much-abused man. It is Human Nature waking in 
her might from the slumber of ages, shaking herself from 
the dust of antiquated institutions, girding herself for the 
combat, and going forth conquering and to conquer ; and 
woe unto the man, woe unto the dynasty, woe unto the 
party, and woe unto the policy, on whom shall fall the 
scath of her blighting indignation." 

Francis Wayland. 

166. The neat style is not only free from faults, but 
sprightly in thought, and becoming in language. 

EXAMPLE 1. 

"It is nearly impossible for me to convey to my read- 
ers an idea of the 'vernal delight,' felt, at this period, 



88 RHETORIC. 

by the lay preacher, far declined in the vale of years. 
My spectral figure, pinched by the rude gripe of Janu- 
ary, becomes as thin as that ' dagger of lath,' employed 
by the vaunting Falstaff; and my mind, affected by the 
universal desolation of winter, is nearly as vacant of joy 
and bright ideas, as the forest is of leaves, and the grove 
is of song. 

" Fortunately for my happiness, this is only periodical 
spleen. Though, in the bitter months, surveying my 
extenuated body, I exclaim, with the melancholy proph- 
et, c My leanness, my leanness, woe unto me ! ' and 
though, adverting to the state of my mind, I behold it, 
4 all in a robe of darkest grain ; ' yet, when April and 
May reign in sweet vicissitude, I give, like Horace, care 
to the winds; and perceive the whole system excited, 
by the potent stimulus of sunshine. 

u An ancient bard, of the happiest descriptive powers, 

and who noted objects, not only with the eye of a poet, 

but with the accuracy of a philosopher, says, in a short 

poem, deyoted to the praises of mirth, that 

' Young and old come forth to play, 
On a sunshine holyday.' 

" In merry spring-time, not only birds, but melan- 
cholic, old fellows, like myself, sing. The sun is the 
poet's, the invalid's, and the hypochondriac's friend. 
Under clement skies, and genial sunshine, not only the 
body is corroborated, but the mind is vivified, and the 
heart becomes c open as day.' " — Dennie. 

example 2. 

" Moss-side was not beautiful to a careless or hasty 
eye ; but when looked on and surveyed, it seemed a 
pleasant dwelling. Its roof, overgrown with grass and 
moss, was almost as green as the ground out of which its 



KINDS OP STYLE. 89 

weather-stained walls appeared to grow. The moss be- 
hind was separated from a little garden, by a narrow slip 
of arable land, the dark color of which showed that it 
had been won from the wild by patient industry, and by 
patient industry retained. It required a bright sunny day 
to make Moss-side fair ; but then it was fair indeed ; and 
when the little brown moorland birds were singing their 
short songs among the rushes and the heather, or a lark, 
perhaps lured thither by some green barley-field for its 
undisturbed nest, rose ringing all over the enlivening sol- 
itude, the little, bleak farm smiled like the paradise of 
poverty, sad and affecting in its lone and extreme sim- 
plicity." — Wilson. 

167. The elegant style is not only neat but graceful. 
It is distinguished for its perspicuity and propriety, for its 
harmonious and happy arrangement, and for its beautiful 
imagery and polished diction. 

EXAMPLE 1. 

" Nothing can be more imposing than the magnificence 
of English park scenery. Vast lawns, that extend like 
sheets of vivid green, with here and there clumps of gi- 
gantic trees, heaping up rich piles of foliage. The sol- 
emn pomp of groves and woodland glades, with the deer 
trooping in silent herds across them ; the hare, bounding 
away to the covert ; or the pheasant, suddenly bursting 
upon the wing. The brook, taught to wind in natural 
meanderings, or expanded into a glassy lake, — the se- 
questered pool, reflecting the quivering trees, with the 
yellow leaf sleeping on its bosom, and the trout roaming 
fearlessly about its limpid waters ; while some rustic tem- 
ple, or sylvan statue, grown green and dark with age, 
gives an air of classic sanctity to the seclusion." 

Washington Irving. 
8* 



90 RHETORIC. 

EXAMPLE 2. 

" In the regions of the Swiss Alps, summits of bare 
granite rose all around us. The snowclad tops of the 
distant Alps seemed to chill the moon-beams, with the 
awe inspired by unchangeable grandeur. We seemed to 
have reached the original elevations of the globe, over- 
topping for ever the tumults, the vices, and the miseries 
of ordinary existence, far out of the hearing of the mur- 
murs of a busy world, which discord ravages, and luxury 
corrupts." — Buckminster. 

EXAMPLE 3. 

"It was a bright, beautiful morning after night rain. 
Every dewdrop and raindrop had a whole heaven within 
it. The clouds, that were hovering about on their huge, 
shadowy wings, made the scene only the more magnifi- 
cent. Before me lay the whole panorama of the Alps; 
pine forests standing dark and solemn at the base of the 
mountains ; and half-way up a veil of mist ; above which 
rose the snowy summits, and sharp needles of rocks, 
which seemed to float in the air, like a fairy world. 
Then the glaciers stood on either side, winding down 
through the mountain ravines ; and, high above all, rose 
the white, dome-like summit of Mont Blanc. And ever 
and anon from the shroud of mist came the awful sound 
of an avalanche, and a continued roar, as of the wind 
through a forest of pines, filled the air. It was the roar 
of the Arve and Aveiron, breaking from trieir icy foun- 
tains. Then the mists began to pass away ; and it seem- 
ed as if the whole firmament were rolling together. It 
recalled to my mind that sublime passage in the Apoca- 
lypse ; ' I saw a great white throne ; and him that sat 
thereon ; before whose face the heavens and the earth 



KINDS OF STYLE. 91 

fled away, and found no place ! ' O, I cannot believe 
that upon this earth there is a more magnificent scene." 

Longfellow. 
168. The ornamented style abounds in tropes and fig- 
ures, and is adorned with metaphorical language, and 
high-wrought imagery. 

EXAMPLE 1. 

u But now the blooming maid is resigned for the use- 
ful matron. The flower is fallen, and the fruit swells 
out on every twig. Breathe soft, ye winds ! O spare 
the tender fruitage, ye surly blasts ! Let the pear-tree 
suckle her juicy progeny, till they drop into our hands, 
and dissolve in our mouths. Let the plum hang unmo- 
lested upon her boughs, till she fatten her delicious flesh, 
and cloud her polished skin with blue. # # # Why does 
the parsley, with her frizzled locks, shag the border ; 
or why the celery, with her whitening arms, perforate 
the mould, but to render his (man's) soups savory ? 
The asparagus shoots its tapering stems, to offer him the 
first fruits of the season ; and the artichoke spreads its 
turgid top, to give him a treat of vegetable marrow. 
The tendrils of the cucumber creep into the sun, and, 
though basking in its hottest rays, they secrete for their 
master, and barrel up for his use, the most cooling juices 
of the soil. The beans stand firm, like files of embat- 
tled troops ; the peas rest upon their props, like so many 
companies of invalids ; while both replenish their pods 
with the fatness of the earth, on purpose to pour it on 
their owner's table." — Anonymous. 

example 2. 

u Beautiful Night ! with thy balm and softness, and 
thy maternal love spreading over this troubled earth with 



92 RHETORIC. 

a deep and still sanctity, — and you, fresh-breathing 
winds, and fragrant herbs and grass, and matted trees, 
which the sun never pierces, and where a vague spirit 
moving calls, as a tribute, tenderness from meditation, 
and poetry from thought, — forgive me, for I have wrong- 
ed you. It is from you that the dead speak, and their 
whispered and sweet voices have tidings of consolation 
and joy, — it is you, and the murmur of the waters, and 
the humming stillness of noon, and the melodious stars, 
which have tones for the heart, not ear, and whatever in 
the living lyres of the universe have harmony and intelli- 
gence, — it is you, all of you, that are the organs of a 
love which has only escaped from clay to blend itself 
with the great elements, and become with them, creating 
and universal ! O beautiful and soothing mystery of na- 
ture, thai while the spirit quits the earth, the robes which 
on earth it wore remain to hallow this world to the sur- 
vivors ! remain not only to moulder and decay, but to 
revive, to remingle with the life around, and to give, even 
in the imperishability of matter, a type of the immortal 
essence of the soul ! " — Bulwer. 

EXAMPLE 3. 

M Behold ! through a vast tract of sky before us, the 
mighty Atlas rears his lofty head, covered with snow, 
above the clouds. Beneath the mountain's foot, the 
rocky country rises into hills, a proper basis of the pon- 
derous mass above : where huge embodied rocks lie piled 
on one another, and seem to prop the high arch of heav- 
en. See ! with what trembling steps poor mankind tread 
the narrow brink of the deep precipices ! From whence 
with giddy horror they look down, mistrusting even the 
ground which bears them ; whilst they hear the hollow 
sound of torrents underneath, and see the ruin of the im- 



KINDS OF STYLE. 93 

pending rocks ; with falling trees which hang with their 
roots upward, and seem to draw more ruin after them. 
Here thoughtless men, seized with the newness of such 
objects, become thoughtful ; and willingly contemplate 
the incessant changes of this earth's surface. They see, 
as in one instant, the revolutions of past ages, the fleeting 
forms of things, and the decay even of this our globe ; 
whose youth and first formation they consider, whilst the 
apparent spoil and irreparable breaches of the wasted 
mountain show them the world itself only, as a noble 
ruin, and make them think of its approaching period. — 
But here, midway the mountain, a spacious border of 
thick wood harbors our wearied travellers : who now are 
come among the evergreen and lofty pines, the firs, and 
noble cedars, whose towering heads seem endless in the 
sky ; the rest of trees appearing only as shrubs beside 
them. And here a different horror seizes our sheltered 
travellers, when they see the day diminished by the deep 
shades of the vast wood ; which, closing thick above, 
spreads darkness and eternal night below. The faint 
and gloomy light looks horrid as the shade itself : and 
the profound stillness of these places imposes silence 
upon men, struck with the hoarse echoings of every 
sound within the spacious caverns of the wood. Here 
space astonishes. Silence itself seems pregnant ; whilst 
an unknown force works on the mind, and dubious ob- 
jects move the wakeful sense. Mysterious voices are- 
either heard or fancied : and various forms of Deity seem 
to present themselves, and appear more manifest in these 
sacred sylvan scenes ; such as of old gave rise to tem- 
ples, and favored the religion of the ancient world." 

Shaftesbury. 

Note. All the various kinds of style have not been described 
in the foregoing pages, but such only as are the most common and 



94 RHETORIC. 

approved. With regard to the examples given, it is very question- 
able, whether they have all been arranged under their most appro- 
priate heads. Be this as it may, one thing is certain, that, by 
studying these examples attentively, scholars will become discrim- 
inating, and thus the whole object will be gained. 

QUALITIES OF STYLE. 

169. Correctness is usually denominated one of the 
qualities of style ; and, as such, it implies the use of 
words that are purely English in their true and proper 
sense, and the construction of phrases and sentences, ac- 
cording to the rules of grammar. 

170. The standard of correctness, according to Dr. 
Campbell, is reputable, national, and present use, 

171. Reputable use does not mean general use, but 
good use. The appeal here made is not to the majori- 
ty, but to the well-educated, to authors of distinction, 
who are supposed to use words and phrases correctly. 

172. National use stands opposed both to provincial 
and to foreign •: the latter is more commonly the error 
of the learned ; the former of the vulgar. But correct- 
ness requires, that our words and phrases should not be 
provincial dialects, nor foreign idioms, but such as are 
in accordance with national usage. 

173. Present use is particularly opposed to what is 
ancient or obsolete. It requires us to reject all those 
words and phrases which have been disused by all good 
writers for a long period of time, and to use none but 
such as are used by good writers at the present day. 

174. But, as good use (by which I mean reputable, 
national, and present use) is not always uniform in her 
decisions, I shall here copy the following canons or 
rules : 

Canon 1. When good use is divided as to any partic- 



QUALITIES OF STYLE. 95 

ular words and phrases, and when one of the expressions 
is susceptible of a different signification, whilst the other 
never admits but one sense ; both perspicuity and variety 
require, that the form of expression, which is, in every 
instance, univocal, should be preferred. 

Canon 2. In doubtful cases, regard ought to be had 
in our decisions to the analogy of language. 

Canon 3. When the terms or expressions are in other 
respects equal, that ought to be preferred which is most 
agreeable to the ear. 

Canon 4. In cases wherein none of the foregoing rules 
give either side a ground of preference, a regard to sim- 
plicity ought to determine our choice. 

175. But, as every thing favored by good use, is not, 
on that account, worthy to be retained, I shall copy the 
following canons or rules : 

Canon 1. All words and phrases which are remarka- 
bly harsh and unharmonious, and not absolutely necessary, 
should be rejected. 

Canon 2. When etymology plainly points to a signifi- 
cation different from that which the word commonly 
bears, propriety and simplicity both require its dismis- 
sion. 

Canon 3. When any words become obsolete, or at 
least are never used, excepting as constituting part of 
particular phrases, it is better to dispense with their ser- 
vice entirely, and give up the phrases. 

Canon 4. All those phrases, which, when analyzed 
grammatically, include a solecism ; and all those to which 
use has affixed a particular sense, but which, when ex- 
plained by the general and established rules of the lan- 
guage, are susceptible either of a different sense, or of 
no sense, ought to be discarded altogether. 



96 RHETORIC. 

176. Perspicuity, as a quality of style, is opposed 
to ambiguity and obscurity, and implies that the expres- 
sions used, be such as to convey, and clearly convey, 
the true meaning of the writer. 

Note. If words are properly chosen, correctly arranged, and 
conformable to present established usage, it is impossible that the 
sense can be ambiguous or obscure. 

177. Vivacity, as a quality of style, implies that the 
thoughts of the writer are exhibited with distinctness be- 
fore the mind, and in a manner which arrests and fixes 
the attention. 

178. Vivacity is promoted in various ways : 1. By 
the use of specific and appropriate terms, and well chos- 
en epithets : 2. By departing from the common arrange- 
ment of the words in a sentence : 3. By the omission of 
unnecessary words and phrases : 4. By the omission of 
conjunctions, and the consequent division of the dis- 
course into short sentences : 5. By the use of some of 
the figures of speech, such as Climax, Antithesis, Ex- 
clamation, and Interrogation : 6. By representing past 
actions and events as transpiring at the present time, and 
absent individuals as present, speaking and listening. 

179. Euphony, as a quality of style, means a certain 
smoothness of expression, produced by a happy selection 
of words and phrases, and by the harmonious arrange- 
ment of them into sentences. 

180. Though this quality of style is more frequently 
attained by imitation than by the observance of rules, 
yet it will be well to remember, that the intermingling of 
long and short syllables, the frequent recurrence of open 
vowel sounds, and the avoiding of such a succession of 
consonants as are difficult of utterance, are favorable to 
smoothness of style. 



QUALITIES OF STYLE, 



97 



EXAMPLE. 

" The accusing spirit, which flew up to Heaven's 
chancery with the oath, blushed as he gave it in, and the 
recording angel, as he wrote it down, dropped a tear 
upon the word, and blotted it out for ever." 

Sterne. 

181. Naturalness, as a quality of style, implies that 
the writer has exercised good sense and taste in the 
choice of his words, in the form of his sentences, in the 
ornaments he has used, and in his turns of thought and 
expression. 

182. A few instances in which naturalness of style is 
most frequently violated : 1. When there is an evident 
attempt after ornament : 2. When the writer seeks after 
elegances of expression : 3. When he attempts to be 
forcible, and uses extravagant expressions, sweeping as- 
sertions, and forced illustrations : 4. When a writer, the 
current of whose thoughts is neither strong nor deep, 
affects a fulness and flow of expression. 



APPENDIX 



No. I. 
LATIN PREFIXES. 

A, ab, and abs, signify from, or away ; as, avert, to turn 
from ; aoject, to throw away ; attract, to draw away. 

Ad means to or at ; as, adhere, to stick to ; admire, to 
wonder at. 

Note. The letter d in ad, before a consonant is frequently 
changed into the letter with which the simple verb begins; as, 
accredit, a/flux, aggregate, alloy, annihilate, append, assume, at- 
tract. 

Ante means before ; as, antecedent, going before. 

Circum means around or about ; as, circumnavigate, to 
sail around or about. 

Con, com , co, and col, signify together or with ; as, con- 
join, to join together ; compress, to press together ; 
cooperate, to work together ; coZlapse, to fall together; 
coequal, to be equal with. 

Contra means against ; as, contradict, to speak against. 

Be means from or down ; as, deduct, to take from ; de- 
scend, to go down. 

Di, dif and dis, signify asunder or away ; as, dilacerate, 
to tear asunder ; differ, to bear asunder ; dismiss, to 
send away. 

E, ef and ex, signify out ; as, eject, to throw out ; ef- 
flux, to flow out ; exclude, to shut out. 

Extra means beyond j as, extraordinary, beyond what is 
ordinary. 



! 



LATIN PREFIXES. 99 

In, im, il, and ir, signify not, and when united with ad- 
jectives or nouns, generally reverse their meaning ; 
as, insufficient, impolite, iZlegitimate, irreverence. 

Inter means between or among ; as, interpose, to put be- 
tween ; intersperse, to scatter among. 

Intro means within or into ; as, introvert, to turn within ; 
introduce, to lead into. 

Mai or male signifies ill or bad ; as, ma/administration, 
bad administration ; maZecontent, ill content. 

Ob, oc, and op, signify against or opposition ; as, oiject, 
to bring against ; occur, to run against, or to happen ; 
oppugn, to oppose. 

Per means through or by; as, perambulate, to walk 
through ; perhaps, by haps. 

Post means after ; as, postscript, written after. 

Prce and pre mean before ; as, prefix, to fix before. 

Pro means for or forth ; as, pronoun, for a noun ; pro- 
tend, to stretch forth. 

Prceter and preter mean past or beyond ; as, preter- 
perfect, past-perfect; preternatural, beyond what is 
natural. 

Re means again or back ; as, reperuse, to peruse again ; 
retrace, to trace back. 

Retro means backwards ; as, retrospective, looking back- 
wards. 

Se means aside or apart ; as, seduce, to draw aside. 

Sub, sue, suf, sup, sur, and sus, signify under ; as, sub- 
scribe, to write under; succeed, to go under, or to fol- 
low in order; suffer, to bear under; suppose, to place 
under or think; surrender, to go under; sustain, to 
hold under. 

Super means upon, above, or over; as, superscribe, to 
write upon ; superficies, above the face ; supervise, to 
overlook. 



100 APPENDIX. 

Note. Sur is sometimes syncopated from the Latin, super, 
which means upon, above, or over ; as, surmount, to overcome, or 
upon the mount; surface, upon the face; surname, the name above, 
ox family name; surpass, to pass over. 

Trans means over or beyond ; as, transport, to carry 

over ; transgress, to pass beyond. 
Ultra means beyond or extreme ; as, itZfra-royalist, one 

extremely devoted to royalty. 



GREEK PREFIXES. 

A or an signifies privation or without ; as, anomalous, 
without a rule ; anonymous, ivithout a name ; apathy, 
without feeling ; anarchy, without government. 

Amphi means both or two ; as, amphibious, both natures 
or elements. 

Ana means back, again, against, or separate ; as, ana- 
chronism, against time ; analyze, to resolve again, or 
to trace back ; anatomy, to cut apart, or to separate. 

Anti means against or opposed to ; as, antichrist, against 
Christ. 

Apo means from ; as, apogee, from the earth ; apostle, 
sent from. 

Arch means chief; as, arc/ibishop, chief-bishop ; arch- 
duke, chief- duke. 

Dia means through ; as, diameter, through the measure 
or circle ; diagonal, through the corner. 

Epi means upon ; as, epitaph, upon a tomb ; epidemic, 
upon the people; epidermis, upon the skin. 

Ge means the earth ; as, geology, the science of the earth. 

Hemi, demi, and semi, signify half ; as, hemisphere, half 
a sphere ; demigod, half a god ; semicircle, half a 
circle. 

Hyper means over or above ; as, Aj/percritical, over or 
too critical. 



AFFIXES AND TERMINATIONS. 101 

Hypo means under^ implying concealment or disguise ; 

as, hypocrisy, under judgment or dissimulation. 
Hydro means water ; as, hydrometer, a water measure ; 

hydrophobia, fear of water. 
JWeta means change ; as, metamorphose, to change shape 

or form. 
Mis means icrong, bad, or hateful ; as, misstate, to state 

wrong ; misfortune, bad fortune. 
Para means through or against ; as, paradox, against 

an opinion ; paragraph, through a writing. 
Peri means around, about, or towards ; as, periphrasis, 

to speak about, or circumlocution ; periphery, to carry 

around, or circumference ; perigee, towards the earth ; 

pericranium, about the skull. 
Syn, syl, and sym, signify with or together ; as, syntax, 

a placing together; salable, that portion of a word 

which is taken together; sympathy, fellow-feeling, or 

feeling together. 



No. II. 
AFFIXES AND TERMINATIONS. 

Able and ible signify capable of, liable to, or subject to, 
that which the first part of the word indicates, or to 
which it relates ; as, taxable, that may be taxed, or li- 
able to taxation ; mova6/e, that may be moved, liable 
to be moved, or subject to removal ; compressible, that 
may be compressed, or capable of compression, &c. 

Jlge, ard, nee, ure, and ment, are added to words to rep- 
resent the character, condition, or habit ; as, usage, 
drunkard, convenience, forfeiture, confinement, &c. 

Jltion, etion, esion, ition, icion, ision, otion, osion, ution, 
9* 



102 APPENDIX. 

usion, are nearly equivalent to the participial termina- 
tion ing, and imply action or influence exerted ; as, 
application is applying*, or the act of applying ; com- 
pletion is completing* or the act of completing ; acqui- 
sition is acquiring* or the act of acquiring ; resolution 
is resolving* or the act of resolving, &c. 

Ar, er, and or, are added to words to signify a doer or 
performer; as, beggar, one ivho begs; governor, one 
ivho governs ; instructer, one who instructs, &c. 

Ee is added to a word to denote the receiver, or one with 
whom any business is transacted ; as, assignee, the per- 
son to whom an assignment is made ; mortgagee, the 
person ivho receives a mortgage, &c. 

En, besides being a Saxon plural, and a termination of 
the perfect participle, denotes the nature of any thing, 
or the material out of which any thing is made ; as, 
golden, made of gold ; oaken, made of oak ; woollen, 
made of wool, &c. 

Ery is added to a word to signify action or habit ; as, 
foolery, habitual folly ; prudery, the habit or action 
of a prude. 

Ful is the adjective full, and, in composition, retains its 
primitive meaning ; as, careful, full of care ; thought- 
ful, full of thought. 

Hood and head are added to words to signify character 
or qualities ; as, manhood, knight/iood, false/iooa 7 , god- 
head, &c. 

Ian and ist are added to words to signify skill or posses- 
sion ; as, musician, one skilled in music ; physician, 
one skilled in physic ; chemist, one skilled in chem- 
istry, &c. 

Ish is a Greek diminutive, and lessens the primitive mean- 
ing of a word ; as, saltish, a little salt ; whitish, a lit- 
tle white. 



AFFIXES AND TERMINATIONS. 103 

Ity is added to a word to represent its meaning in the 
abstract; as, prosperity, perplexity, flexibility, docil- 
ity, ductility, &c. 

he means doing, denoting, or pertaining to, that which 
the first part of the word indicates ; as, indicative, that 
which indicates or declares ; interrogative, that which 
interrogates or questions, &c. 

Ize means to make, form, or render, what the rest of the 
word indicates ; as, generalise, to make or render gen- 
eral ; colonize, to form a colony; particularize, to ren- 
der or make more particular, &c. 

Kin, ling, ock, el, and let, are diminutives, and are added 
to words to lessen their signification ; as, mani&in, a 
little man ; gosling, a little goose ; hillock, a small 
hill; pickereZ, a small pike ; rivulet, a small river, &c. 

Less means without ; as, tasteless, without taste ; sense- 
less, without sense. 

Ly means like; as, manty, man-like ; godly, god-like, &c. 

Ness means being or existence of that quality which the 
first part of the word indicates or represents ; as, good- 
ness, being good, or the existence of good qualities ; 
wickedness, being wicked, or the existence of wicked 
qualities, &c. 

Ous means like or tending to what the rest of the word 
represents ; as, murderous, like or tending to murder ; 
hazardotts, tending to or exposed to hazard, &c. 

Ship is added to a word to signify office, employment, 
state, or condition ; as, lordship, stewardship, partner- 
ship, hardship, &c. 

Some means plenty, but with some degree of diminution ; 
as, delightsome, troublesome, toilsome, &c. 

Ward means in the direction of ; as, homeicard, in the 
direction of home. 

Wick, ric, and dom, are added to words to signify do- 



104 APPENDIX. 

minion, jurisdiction, or condition ; as, bailimcfc, the 
jurisdiction of a bailiff ; bishopric, the diocese of a 
bishop ; kingdom, the dominion of a king ; freedom, 
the condition of the free. 

Wise means ways ; as, likewise, in like or similar ways. 

Y denotes plenty or abundance ; as, wealthy, abundance 
of wealth ; healthy, much health, or plenty of health, &c. 



No. III. 

As the rule for the formation of the possessive case, 
in the C. S. Grammar, No. 53, has been considered 
novel and incorrect, the following authorities are subjoin- 
ed, in order to show, that the compiler of that work is 
not a radical, but a conservative. 

1. Noah Webster's Grammar, published at Hartford, 
1734. u When nouns end in es or ss, how is the pos- 
sessive formed? By adding an apostrophe, without s; 
as, for goodness' sake ; on eagles' wings ; Socrates' wis- 
dom." 

2. Benjamin Dearborn's Grammar, published at Bos- 
ton, 1795. u Some substantives ending in s, especially 
plurals, sound very disagreeably if the s be doubled ; 
those may have the addition of the apostrophe only." 

3. Lady's Accidence, by Caleb Bingham, 13th edi- 
tion, published at Boston, 1808. " When the word ends 
with s, the possessive is commonly formed by the apos- 
trophe only, without s ; as, Xerxes' army ; the prophetess' 
prediction* 

4. Stamford's Grammar, 4th edition, published at 
Boston, 1807. " The possessive case of nouns ending 
in s, is formed by adding a comma, or an apostrophe 



APPENDIX. 105 

only, without s ; as, on eagles' wings ; for righteousness' 
sake." 

5. Bishop Lowth's Grammar, 2d Cambridge, from the 
author's last edition, 1838. u When it is a noun ending 
in s, the sign of the possessive is sometimes not added ; 
as, for righteousness' sake ; Moses' minister ; Phineas' 
wife; Peleus' son ; Felix' room." 

6. Alexander's Grammar, 10th edition, published at 
Boston, 1811, and printed by Joseph T. Buckingham, 
Esq. u When the noun ends in es or ss, the possessive 
case is formed by the addition of an apostrophe only; as, 
goodness' sake, empress' beauty, Achilles' shield, eagles' 
wings;" and on page 68, under the head of u False 
Grammar," " Achilles's shield, righteousness' s sake." 

7. Dr. Abercromhie says, M To form the possessive 
plural, we annex the apostrophe without the letter s, 
and the possessive singular of nouns terminating in s, is 
formed in the same manner. " 

8. Richard Hiley's Grammar. " In poetry, when 
the word ends in s or x, the possessive singular is fre- 
quently formed by adding only the apostrophe, and omit- 
ting the additional s. * # * In prose, also, when we wish 
to prevent too much of the hissing sound, the 5 after the 
apostrophe is generally omitted, when the first noun has 
an s in each of its two last syllables, and the second noun 
begins with s ; as, For righteousness' sake ; For con- 
science' sake." 

9. Dr. Russell's Grammar. u If the substantive ends 
in s or x, we mark the case by adding the apostrophe. 
The case of righteousness, which is singular, is righteous- 
ness' ; of fathers, which is plural, is fathers'; of Felix, a 
Roman governor mentioned in Acts, is Felix'." 

10. Rev. J. M. M'Culloch's Grammar. " When the 
noun ends in s, ss, ce, or any other termination which 



106 APPENDIX. 

does not easily admit of a hissing sound after it, the pos- 
sessive is formed by simply annexing the apostrophe, 
without the letter s ; as, c for righteousness' sake,' i for 
conscience' sake.' " 

11. An old Grammar (anonymous) published at Lon- 
don, 1767, by Miller, Cardell, & Dodsley. " When it 
is a noun ending in s, the sign of the possessive case is 
sometimes not added ; as, c for righteousness' sake.' " 

12. John Grant's Grammar. " The s of the genitive 
singular is not commonly added to nominatives in ss de- 
noting a quality ; thus, for righteousness' sake. # * # 
When the nominative terminates even with the sound of 
$, we sometimes find the s of the genitive omitted ; as, 
for elegance' sake. * # * The omission of the $, wheth- 
er in the singular or plural, evidently results from a desire 
to prevent the disagreeable hissing arising from a repeti- 
tion of this letter." 

13. Noah Webster's Rule in 1833. "When words 
end in es or ss, the apostrophe is added without s ; as, 
on eagles' wings ; for righteousness' sake." 

14. The numerous exceptions of almost all other au- 
thors^ to their rule for the formation of the possessive 
case. 

15. The practice of a majority of the most learned and 
critical writers of the day. 

These authorities are sufficient to show, that the rule 
in question is by no means a novel one : and that it is a 
correct rule, the following statement of facts will abun- 
dantly prove. 1. The rule admits of no exceptions. 
2. It is substantially the rule of some modern authors 
whom I have not quoted. 3. It is virtually admitted to 
be correct by the numerous exceptions of all other au- 
thors to their own rule. Now, I contend, that a rule 
with eighteen or twenty exceptions, is worse than no rule 



APPENDIX. 107 

at all. It only serves to distract and perplex learners. 
A rule accurately defined, is "an instrument by which 
lines are drawn." It may be correct or incorrect, true 
or false, right or wrong ; but it can have no exceptions 
without impairing its force as a rule ; that is, every ex- 
ception weakens the rule, and tends to destroy our con- 
fidence in it ; and in proportion as the number of excep- 
tions increases, our confidence diminishes. 

Note 1. Without referring to the various periodicals and re- 
views, in which this mode of writing the possessive case most fre- 
quently occurs, and which would increase the number of examples 
to many thousands, it will be sufficient to quote the following au- 
thorities : 

"Lord Somers' Tracts." " Phipps' Farm." " Mr. Adams' 
mind." "Mr. Sparks' invaluable collection." "Sparks' Writ- 
ings." " Capt. Beers' unfortunate men." (Edward Everett.) 
" Andrews' Latin Lessons." " Andrews' Latin Reader." " An- 
drews' Latin Exercises." u Sophocles' Greek Grammar." " Wil- 
kins' Astronomy." (Stephen C. Phillips.) " Pocahontas' father." 
(William Wirt.) "Adams' Despatch." "Adams' Letter." 
" Martins' Nouveau Recueil." (Henry Wheaton.) " Mr. Marbois' 
queries." " Colonel Matthews' delivery." " Du Plessis' ad- 
dresses." (Thomas Jefferson.) " Hastings' reputed abilities." 
( Sheridan .) " Witness' Character. ' ' (Francis Hilliard. ) ' ' Burns' 
Poems." "Burns' statement." "Burns' genius." "Burns' 
connexion, &c." (Sir Harris Nicolas .) "Junius' address." 
"Davis' Straits." " Hortensius' influence." " Junius' first let- 
ter." " Roscius' father." (John Quincy Adams.) "Procrustes' 
bed." (Dr. Channing.) " Witsius' Miscellanea Sacra." " Ole- 
rius' preface." " Du Bos' Histoire." " Wilkin s' Concilia." 
" Geddes' Dissertation." " Holstenius' Codex." " Boulainvil- 
liers' Vie de Mahomet." "Geddes' Miscellaneous Tracts." " Syn- 
cellus' Confession." "Sagittarius' Introduction." " Buddeus' 
Isagoge." " Constantius' Prolegom." " Servius Lupus' Vita." 
"Geddes' History." (Dr. Archibald Maclane.) " James' Histo- 
ry." " Yates' Vindication." " Chalmers' Sermons." " Hawes' 
Lectures." "Thomas' History." (Rev. John Todd.) " Rees' 
Cyclopedia." (Rev. James Yates.) " Gesenius' Hebrew Gram- 
mar." (Rev. T.J. Conant.) " Jesus' discourse." "Jesus' dis- 



108 APPENDIX. 

ciples . " ( Rev . Joseph Allen .) " Hobbes ' remark . ' ' ( Rev . Jacob 
Abbott.) " St. James' sentence." (Dr. Delancy.) " Brutus' 
speech." (Dr. Ebenezer Porter.) " Sophocles' Greek Grammar." 
(Pres. S. Totten.) "Colonel Williams' party." " After the re- 
treat of Williams' party." "General Gates' army." (Prof. Sil- 
liman.) " Mr. Sophocles' manner." (Prof. W. S. Tyler.) " Ura- 
nus' mass." (Prof. J. Lovering.) "Lord Kaimes' Elements." 
" Des Cartes' doctrine." " Des Cartes' reasonings." (Dugald 
Stewart.) "Mr. Crooks' party." " Mine hostess' tortoise-shell 
cat. " " Esopus' church steeple. ' ' ( Washington Irving. ) ' ' Watts' 
Psalms." (Samuel L. Knapp.) " Peter Wilkins' account." (E. A. 
Poe.) "Brutus' love to Cesar." (Shakspeare.) "Mr. Adams' 
soul." (/. F. Cooper.) "The Vaudois' Wife." (Mrs. Hemans' 
Works.) "For goodness' sake." " For righteousness' sake." 
(Lindley Murray.) " For goodness' sake." " For righteousness' 
sake." " For conscience' sake." (Samuel Kirkham.) " For 
goodness' sake." " For conscience' sake." (Roswell C. Smith.) 
"Witness' sake." "Conscience' sake." "Goodness' sake." 
" Jabez' unwillingness." "Felix' reply." (Oliver B. Peirce.) 
"Benevolence' sake." " Kindness' sake." " Achilles' wrath." 
(Dyer H. Sanborn.) " Conscience' sake." "Francis' passion." 
(W. Fetch.) "Hercules' choice." "Douglas' account of him- 
self." " Sempronius' speech." " Lucius' speech." " Brutus' 
harangue." " Calisthenes' reproof." (Scott's Lessons.) "Au- 
gustus' Bridge, at Narni." (Pierponfs National Reader.) "Your 
Adonis', your Paris', and your Apollo's." (Boston Speaker.) 
" Francis' mama." " Francis' unlucky behavior." (Abbott's Mount 
Vernon Reader.) " Massachusetts' Convention." (S. G. Good- 
rich.) " Theory of Archimedes' Screw." " Venus' revolution." 
(J. L. Comstock.) " James' turn." " Sanders' series." (Charles 
W. Sanders.) "Phillips' or Wilkins' Astronomy." "Junius' 
Letters." " Ketts' Elements of General Knowledge." "Rog- 
ers' Pleasures of Memory." "Williams' History of Vermont." 
" Hemans' Poems." (R.G.Parker.) " James' share." (George 
Leonard, Jr.) "Venus' fly-trap." "Judas' tree." (Mrs. Lin- 
coin's Botany.) " Michaelis' Lectures." " Michaelis' Introduc- 
tion." "Krebs' Observat., &c." "Tiberius' reign." (Adam 
Clarke.) " Jesus' unction." " Jesus' head." " Grotius' works." 
" Baronius' exposition." (Bishop Newcome.) " King James' day." 
(A. A. Livermore.) "Moses' Principia." "Adams' Religious 
World." (Charles Coote.) "Wells' Scripture Geography." 



APPENDIX. 109 

" Harris* Scripture Natural History. " " Josephus' Jewish Cus- 
toms." " Jones' History." " Jones' Biblical Cyclopedia." "Ev- 
ans' Sketch." " Jones' Dictionary of Religious Opinions." " Han- 
nah Adams' Dictionary." "Robins' Dictionary." "Williams' 
Dictionary." " Edwards' Quarterly Register." " Edwards' Mis- 
sionary Gazette . " (Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge . ) " Xerx- 
es' expedition." " Titus' baths." " Prideaux' Connexions." 
"Lord Berners* Froissart." (Tytler's History.) "Mr. Adams' 
opinions." " Massachusetts' proportion." " Otis' Pamphlet." 
" Gorges' ancestor." " Gorges' grant." " Gorges' heirs." "High- 
ness' pleasure." (Bradford' s History.) " Lucullus' army." " Ti- 
granes' harem." " Vettius' camp." " Octavius' opposition." 
" Xerxes' invasion." " Publius' year." " Chabrias' mercenaries." 
" Ares' Hill." " Laevinus' successor." " Critolaus' army." 
(Thomas Keightley.) "Demosthenes' father." "Mars' Hill." 
" Bos' Greek Antiquities." " Gillies' History." ( C. D. Cleveland.) 
" Shays 5 insurrection." (Minotfs History.) " Miles' bridge." 
"Mr. Parris' family." "Rev. J. S. Popkins' sermon." "Mr. 
Parsons' pulpit." " Mr. Lewis' History." " Jones' house." 
" Searls' wife." " Holmes' Annals." " Francis' History." (John 
W. Barber' s Hist. Collections.) "Josephus' History." "Jen- 
nings' Lectures." " Dr. Holmes' Life of President Stiles." (Han- 
nah Adams.) "Ulysses' mantle." " Achilles' clothing." (George 
Bancroft's translation of Ancient Greece.) " Hopkins' Charity." 
(School Regulations of Cambridge.) 

Note 2. Bishop Lowth says, that "God's grace was formerly 
written, by the ancient Saxons, Godis grace, and not God his 
grace, as some imagine. The apostrophe and the 5 represent a 
different termination of the noun, and not any supposed his or her 
or their. It is not easy to conceive, how the letter s added to a 
feminine noun should represent the word her, any more than it 
should the word their, added to the plural noun." 

Note 3. Dr. Wallis says, " They who think this s is used in- 
stead of the word his, err egregiously ; for the termination is affix- 
ed to proper nouns of the feminine gender, to nouns in the plural, 
also, and. even to the possessives ours, yours, theirs, hers, to which 
no one would dream of affixing the word his; and, indeed, the 
very word his is nothing else than he-es." 

Note 4. John Grant says, " The 's is supposed to be an abbre- 
viation of the Saxon genitive, which, in three out of six declen- 
sions, ends in es ; or of the is of the third declension in Latin." 
10 



110 APPENDIX. 

Note 5. D. Fenning's Grammar, published at London, 1771„ 
"Q. How is the genitive case formed? A. By adding 5, with an 
apostrophe before it, to the nominative ; as, man's strength, wo- 
man's beauty. Q. Is not this 5, with the apostrophe, a contraction 
of his I A. No ; for then Mary's fear would be Mary his fear, 
which would be absolute nonsense. Q. Have not many good writ- 
ers, however, supposed it to be so? A. Yes; but they have all 
been mistaken. Q. What is it then? A. It is an abbreviation of 
the old Saxon genitive, which ends in is.' 9 

Note 6. David Booth's Grammar. " God's grace is the grace 
of God. Anciently the latter was Godis, or Godes, grace, for the 
syllable was never contracted ; and the only apparent reason fox 
the contraction seems to be to distinguish it from the plural." 

Note 7. Richard Hiley's Grammar. " The sign J s (s with an 
apostrophe before it) is called the Saxon genitive or possessive, 
and is a contraction of es ; thus, ' Man's wisdom,' was formerly 
written ' Manes wisdom. 5 " 



; 



UBRARV OF CONGRESS 



The following, among other testin 
School Grammar," were received h 
manuscript; from Professors Noyes an 
Reverends A. B. Muzzey, J. W. Parkei 
Dr. A. Hooker. It has already been ir 
in Cambridge, and in several other tow 




003 238 412 2 



" Cambridge, September 4th, 1841. 
** Dear Sir, 

" I have given your Grammar as careful an examination as my 
leisure will permit ; and am of opinion, that, for clearness, brevity, 
happy arrangement, abundance of instructive illustrations, and exclusion 
of useless or unimportant matter in a treatise for the young, your book 
deserves a very high rank among the manuals which are in use. If 
it should displace some of them, the public will be a gainer in several 
respects. 

" Yours, respectfully, 

" G. R. NOYES." 



" Cambridge, September 27th, 1841. 
« Dear Sir, 

" I have read your ' Manual of English Grammar ' with attention. 
It seems to me to have the qualities of simplicity, brevity, and clear- 
ness to a remarkable degree. All that is essential to an exact knowl- 
edge of the English language, and of the practice of the most correct 
writers, it appears to me you have brought within a very narrow 
compass. As a practical grammar of the English language, it cannot 
fail to be useful, both to teachers and scholars. The outline of the 
principles of Rhetoric, at the end, is concise and intelligible. It con- 
tains directions in the art of composition, which will prov^ valuable, 
not only to young scholars, but to many practised writers. 

"Respectfully yours, 

" C. C. FELTON." 



u Cambridge, September, 1841. 
il This certifies, that I have examined the Grammar prepared by 
Mr. John Goldsbury, and find it deserving of high commendation for 
its methodical arrangement and clearness of illustration, and for its 
union of comprehensiveness and brevity. It is free from extraneous 
matfer, and, at the same time, so simple in its plan and details, that it 
can hardly fail to inte* st young pupils in a branch of study usually 
regarded as dry and irksome. I hope it may soon reach that place in 
our schools, to which its merits so fully entitle it. 

"A. B. MUZZEY." 



" Cambridge, October, 1841. 
" Dear Sir, 

" I have examined your Manual of Grammar with as much care as 
my leisure would permit. In several important particulars it possesses 
peculiar merit. It is simple and concise. The definitions with which 
it furnishes the learner, are clear, definite, and present the true idea to 
his mind, as no other manual with which I am acquainted does. With 
the simple elements for beginners it combines many important princi- 
ples and suggestions to those who esteem themselves proficients in the 
science. I earnestly hope you will give it to the public. 

" Very truly yours, 

"J.W.PARKER." 



